Ben Roethlisberger walks off the field after a 34-31 loss to the Raiders on Sunday. (AP)

Three games down and a bye week to go before closing a disappointing September, the Steelers are staring at lackluster personal precedence. A dozen times in the past 40 years of their franchise upswing, they started 1-2 -- like they are now -- or worse. Seven of those seasons they failed to make the playoffs. Never once did they get past the AFC championship game.

So a 34-31 loss at Oakland Sunday, after dominating much of the game and owning a 31-21 lead into the fourth quarter, puts a bad historic spin on this rebuilding Steelers season. In 2009, 2006, 2000 (0-3), 1990, 1988, 1986 (0-3) and 1981, they lost two of their opening three games and sat out the postseason. In 2002, 1997, 1993, 1989 and 1976, they reached the playoffs, but only twice reached the conference final, whereupon they lost.

Offense: C-

Hard to imagine that Ben Roethlisberger could direct an offense that conjured 379 yards passing, but still failed. More productive (read: touchdown) drives and two open-field turnovers were major fails. Worse still, 10 penalties conspired to undermine the Steelers. Even worse yet, the historic running game collected but 54 yards on 20 carries, for a 2.7-yard average. Rashard Mendenhall’s return after the bye week isn’t enough -- the line play and pass-run mix must improve.

Defense: D-

Without former defensive players of the year James Harrison (knee) and Troy Polamalu (calf), the defense indeed was hamstring. But it was good enough to stymie Mark Sanchez and the Jets a week earlier. After an interception on the opening Oakland series, the defense slowly came undone. In the second half, it allowed the Raiders to convert seven of its final eight third-down situations. It allowed Darren McFadden the longest run against a Steelers defense in six years and 112 yards and 6.6 yards per carry after starting the day with 54 yards and a 2.1-yard average the previous two games. Not good.

Special teams: D-

For the third time in the past four games, including the preseason finale, a punt return for a touchdown was erased by a Steelers penalty (or, in Sunday’s case, two on one play). Just when the Steelers took a 24-14 lead early in the third quarter, they permitted a 51-yard kickoff return that helped lead to a Raiders touchdown. Drew Butler had a rookie moment with 35- and 29-yard punts in succession, turning around field position and leading to Oakland’s tying TD at 14-14 when the Raiders were being dominated. In short, special teams co-coach Mike Tomlin can't be pleased.

Coaching: C-

Certainly, Tomlin deserves an A for Attitude: He calmly went for a fourth-down conversion late in the game, and got it. But the defense never was able to either rattle Carson Palmer or bottle McFadden -- Ray Rice (twice) and Arian Foster were the only running backs in a five-year span to top triple digits previoiusly. On top of that, McFadden ripped off the longest scoring run in a six-year span against the Steelers. And a veteran group was undone by rookie head coach Dennis Allen and his heretofore 0-2 staff. With a bye week to think about all that? Not good at all.

Follow Steelers reporter Chuck Finder on Twitter @CBSSteelers and @cfinder.