PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers lose games because Ben Roethlisberger can’t escape the pass rush. Or because their offense doesn’t get off to a running start. Since 2002, however, they’ve never lost this way.

Jeff Reed, one of the most reliable kickers in NFL history, couldn’t convert twice in the fourth quarter from what usually is can’t-miss range for him.

Reed’s first miss during the Steelers’ 17-14 loss Sunday to the Chicago Bears, from 38 yards out, came after he appeared to slip on soggy, newly sodded turf installed after a U2 concert the weekend before had damaged part of Soldier Field’s grass. It prevented the Steelers from take a 17-7 lead early in the fourth quarter of a game they were controlling.

How rare was that miss? The previous three seasons, in 39 attempts from inside 40 yards, Reed had failed only once.

His second miss, from 43 yards, came with 3:18 remaining and would have given the Steelers the lead. Instead, former Penn State kicker Robbie Gould won it for Chicago with a 44-yarder with 15 seconds remaining.

Two attempts, two misses — no excuses from Reed. The veteran has been more reliable over his eight-season career than kickers such as Adam Vinatieri, Jason Elam, Gary Anderson and Morten Andersen. And the Steelers took only their second loss in 12 games, counting the playoffs.

“I was trying too hard on both of them,” Reed said. “That’s what happens to a kicker when you hook them. I thought the first one was going to sneak in, but I didn’t give the second one a chance. I’m just embarrassed because these guys fought their tails off to win the game.”

Reed, 12th in NFL career field goal accuracy, hadn’t missed twice since Sept. 26, 2004, when he was 2 for 4 during monsoon-like conditions hours after a hurricane passed through Miami. The Steelers won anyway, 13-3.

Twice in his career, Reed has had only two misses in a season — 2002 (17 of 19 after signing at midseason) and 2007 (23 of 25).

In 2003, he had a pair of games in which he missed twice. But the Steelers easily won one of those, beating Oakland 27-7, and the second came a week later against the Jets during a 6-0 loss played in blizzard-like conditions.

Reed had his typical start to this season as the Steelers beat the Titans 13-10 on Sept. 10, with Reed nailing a 33-yarder in overtime after tying it with a 32-yarder with 2:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“You can go from an all-time high of kicking a game-winner and then feeling at an all-time low coming up missing two,” wide receiver Hines Ward said. “But we still have confidence in Jeff. There’s no need for anybody to say anything to Jeff. Jeff knows what’s expected of him.”

Yes, and it wasn’t this.

The two misses have gotten Reed off to a disappointing start in an important season for him. He is unsigned past this season and while Reed is young by kicker’s standards at 30, the Steelers brought in a younger kicker, Piotr Czech, to compete with him during training camp. Czech was released during the final roster cuts, but was impressive during his time with Pittsburgh.

Sunday marked Reed’s worst moment since, a few weeks after the Steelers won the Super Bowl on Feb. 1, he received a citation for bashing a convenient store restroom’s towel-dispensing machine. Steelers rookies parodied the incident during a training camp skit that drew considerable laughter from the team’s veterans.

That was an embarrassment of a different sort for Reed. This was business, and the second-leading scorer to Anderson in team history isn’t accustomed to missing important kicks. Reed has made his last 14 attempts in the postseason; overall, he is 164 of 200 (82 percent) during the regular season.

“I have all the confidence in the world that, next week, he could kick a game-winner,” Roethlisberger said. “We’re not down on him one bit.”

That next game – Sunday at Cincinnati (1-1) — already looks more important for the Steelers (1-1) than it did when the season began. The Steelers have won their last five and 9 of 11 against Cincinnati, but the Bengals won 31-24 on Sunday at Green Bay, which beat Chicago the week before.

The Bengals have outrushed the Steelers 237-141 — Cincinnati is 11th in rushing, Pittsburgh is 27th — and the Steelers will again be without All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu (knee). The Bears frequently targeted replacement Tyrone Carter, who was in coverage on both of Jay Cutler’s touchdown passes. Carter has a left thigh injury and his status is uncertain.

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