Here's the tale of the tape from the Packers' 37-36 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday:

Finishing with a thud

For everything the Packers defense did wrong against the Steelers' passing game, it nonetheless was one stop away from saving the day.

That the Packers missed no fewer than six chances to get that stop on the Steelers' 11-play, 86-yard drive for the winning score only made the day more maddening for coaches.

CBs Tramon Williams and Charles Woodson both had passes bounce off their hands -- the sort of throws the Packers have seemed to turn into takeaways all season. Nickel CB Jarrett Bush held onto one, but ILB Brandon Chillar's illegal (and inadvertent) contact with WR Hines Ward wiped it away.

They had the Steelers in fourth-and-7, but Woodson -- freelancing in a "robber" defense -- bit on QB Ben Roethlisberger's pump fake and shaded away from WR Santonio Holmes, who crossed ILB Nick Barnett's man-under coverage for a 32-yard gain.

DL Cullen Jenkins whipped LT Max Starks with an inside move but couldn't wrap up Roethlisberger with 9 seconds left -- a would-be sack that almost surely would have caused the final 9 seconds to expire.

And on the next play, which also was the game's last, dime CB Josh Bell more or less got caught sleeping, drifted too far upfield and opened the back-shoulder throw WR Mike Wallace caught for a 19-yard TD.

Bell was making his defensive debut for the Packers, but there's no excuse for not understanding he has help over the top from both SS Atari Bigby and the boundary. The one place the corner can't let the ball go in that coverage is precisely where Roethlisberger threw it: under and to the outside. It was a fitting way to end the cornerbacks' worst game of the season.

Then again, better coverage from Bell might not have prevented Roethlisberger from buying more time -- he released the ball in 4.1 seconds -- and waiting for someone else to uncover.

DC Dom Capers liked his "rover" defense enough to keep dropping his best outside rusher, ROLB Clay Matthews, and rushing only three on the final five snaps. Jenkins got to the quarterback twice, including a sack offset by a flagrant hold on Bell, but he wasn't even on the field for that final play.

Instead, the three-man rush came from two little-used backups (OLB Brady Poppinga and rookie DL Jarius Wynn) and DL Johnny Jolly, whose late rush appeared to be slowed by C Justin Hartwig's hold on his jersey. The trio entered the game with one QB sack combined.

Rodgers' ascent

Loss or not, QB Aaron Rodgers might have played the finest 15 minutes of his career in the fourth quarter. Victimized early by five drops and a series of vicious hits when well-timed blitzes flooded through the A-gaps, Rodgers hung in to lead three touchdown drives in as many chances with the game on the line.

His fade pass couldn't have been placed much better on TE Jermichael Finley's gorgeous 11-yard TD catch. Ditto the back-shoulder sluggo that went for 27 to WR Jordy Nelson, one play before Rodgers spotted two-deep coverage and audibled to a draw RB Ryan Grant took for a 24-yard score.

Rodgers checked again on next drive and hit a stop to Nelson for 9, then spotted SS Tyrone Carter's 8-yard cushion and drilled Finley for 10 and a first down. Three plays later, WR James Jones lost CB Joe Burnett on a post corner and Rodgers delivered another on-target throw for a 24-yard TD that would have been the winner had the defense held up the final 2:06. A play-action flick to RB Brandon Jackson converted for two.

In all, Rodgers was 8-of-11 passing for 96 yards and two TDs. It didn't get him a victory, but playing like that late in games -- and doing it consistently -- is an important step in his ascent as a starter.

Playmakers

* Grant's TD run couldn't have been blocked much better across the board. FB Korey Hall made a great adjustment to steer OLB James Harrison wide, LT Chad Clifton handled DE Brett Keisel, LG Daryn Colledge bumped off his combo block to cover up RILB Lawrence Timmons and Nelson sustained against CB Ike Taylor. The other key was WR Donald Driver's sell to the post, taking LILB James Farrior with him. It all left Grant with a gaping hole before his outside move lost Carter around the 10.

* S Derrick Martin is playing like an absolute madman on special teams -- in a good way. It's not every day one player racks up five tackles (three solo) on coverage units, and the infectious energy with which he plays is a big-time bonus.

* Rodgers at one point threw the option on three consecutive run plays -- in part because it was one more way to attack CB William Gay's soft coverage. Gay was targeted 12 times and allowed seven completions for 73 yards, with two others dropped.

* Jenkins wasn't credited with a sack, but three of his nine pressures helped set up takedowns for teammates. That included one of two each recorded by rookie OLBs Brad Jones and Clay Matthews, who had five pressures, and Poppinga's clean-up job on the final drive.

Play breakers

* FS Nick Collins could have made a better decision than covering up Ward's cross, but the early 60-yard TD pass to Wallace is Bush's play to make and he didn't come close. If you can't touch your man, don't turn your head. There's also no excuse for Bush letting Ward behind him for a 54-yard gain against zone coverage, even if Roethlisberger had 6.6 seconds to throw.

* Roethlisberger gave the Packers some fits by checking to receiver screens when he spotted off-man coverage in the red zone. Most notable was RB Mewelde Moore's 10-yard TD from a stack behind Holmes, who in effect took out both would-be tacklers because Williams and SS Atari Bigby were lined up too close together. Moore was Bigby's man, but the communication needed to be better.

* The protection unit functioned remarkably well after allowing four QB hits on Rodgers' first six passes. The only sack came in the third quarter, when Timmons beat RT Mark Tauscher around the edge and Rodgers held the ball too long as his line set up a screen. As the Packers expected, Steelers DC Dick LeBeau attacked all game, rushing five or more on 27 of Rodgers' 45 dropbacks (60 percent), compared to 11 of 57 (19.3 percent) by Capers against Roethlisberger.

* ILB A.J. Hawk probably has seen his final snap in the nickel defense. Benched from the package after four series in favor of Chillar, who wasn't much better with three penalties, Hawk misplayed a 5-yard drag to Miller into a 27-yard gain, gave up another 12-yard completion and probably should have been flagged once for illegal contact. Extra reps should help Chillar get back to playing like he did before he broke his hand.

Dot ... dot ... dot ...

Give those drops to Jones (two), Driver (two) and rookie FB Quinn Johnson. ... The Packers used a fullback on only 14 of 62 gradeable snaps (22.6 percent), motioning them from or to split-out positions on a handful of plays in hopes of making the Steelers false check. Hall played seven snaps and Johnson eight, including one together. ... NT Ryan Pickett, still nursing a hamstring injury, only played five snaps, all in the 4-4 defense the Packers used against Pittsburgh's three-tight set. ... With Pittsburgh all but abandoning the running game and extensively using three receivers, Capers played nickel (45), dime (10) or psycho (six) on 76.3 percent of snaps. ... Jackson (24 snaps) continues to shine in blitz pickup. Finley was surprisingly solid when called upon, too.