PITTSBURGH — To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t supposed to end like this for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After all, they did go 13-3 in the regular season, won the AFC North in a runaway and owned the second seed in the conference, meaning they had a bye.

It was supposed to be a second chance at New England.

Instead, it’s onto an offseason of what ifs and disappointment because of Sunday’s tough-to-swallow 45-42 loss to Jacksonville.

Quite frankly, often times sports do not go the way they’re scripted.

“You punch your ticket, but you don’t take care of business at home, so you just have to tip your cap to (Jacksonville),” Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward said. “It’s disappointing. It’s a lot to (comprehend) right now. We just played a bad game.”

The Jaguars handed Pittsburgh a 30-9 loss in early October. However, many media types, fans and probably even some of the players thought that was an abbiration because Ben Roethlisberger threw a career-high five interceptions.

As it turned out, Jacksonville is a tough matchup for Pittsburgh, especially with a defensive unit that couldn’t stop the run in the first half and couldn’t get the Jags off the field on third down, especially in the fourth quarter when the teams combined for 38 points.

“We didn’t execute enough or get off the field,” Heyward said. “It wasn’t one person. It was collective as a defense. It’s that simple.”

Pittsburgh’s defense actually yielded only 378 yards, which relatively speaking isn’t that bad when you consider Jacksonville scored 45 points.

Meanwhile, the Steelers, who have been an impressive offensive machine all season, accumulated 552 yards, including 469-yard and five-touchdown effort from Roethlisberger.

But, similarly to the first meeting, turnovers reared their ugly head once again. Roethlisberger was picked off in the first quarter and it set up an 18-yard Leonard Fournette touchdown run.

Then, just as it seemed the Steelers had regained some momentum and trailed 21-7, Roethlisberger was sacked, stripped and the ball perfectly bounced into the sprinting hands of Telvin Smith, who raced it back 50 yards for a touchdown.

Those two plays totally erased the rest of what Roethlisberger was able to do.

“It doesn’t matter what you do (offensively) when you give them 14 points and that’s on me,” Roethlisberger said. “I will take full blame for those points and this loss because you can’t put the defense in that situation.”

While those plays — and scores — were obviously critical, Pittsburgh had other opportunities. It could just never get over the hump and Jacksonville had a lot to do with that.

“We didn’t get it done and I didn’t coach well enough,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “The effort and resolve were there, but there just wasn’t enough detail execution to win in January football against good people.”

While the Jaguars and especially quarterback Blake Bortles made plenty of winning plays when they needed to, the Steelers obliged them. Pittsburgh — being brutally honest — made some questionable decisions at times.

For instance, there were two fourth-and-shorts and instead of a quarterback sneak with a 6-5 quarterback, they opted for a quick pitch, which was stuffed for a 5-yard loss, and then later in the game they had an incompletion.

With two time outs and the two-minute warning, the Steelers elected to go for an onside kick. It led to the field goal, which proved to be the difference.

“I stand by the calls we made, but we just didn’t execute them,” Tomlin said. “I am looking to change anyone’s mind or convince you, but I am saying we’re comfortable with the calls we made. I’m not addressing the possibilities.”

Focusing on the two fourth-down plays, it was pointed out to Roethlisberger that he’s snuck for a first down 18 times in 19 tries during his career. However, he wasn’t taking the bait.

“It’s been a while since we’ve ran a quarterback sneak, so I don’t know why we didn’t run it,” Roethlisberger said. “I am for it, but it’s over my head as to why we don’t do it and I am not going to sit here and second guess why we don’t do it.”

On top of those perceived blunders, there was a thought that maybe the Steelers were so fixated on earning redemption against New England that they may have overlooked the Jaguars.

Ramon Foster was asked about that possibility and he — without hesitation — said, “hell no!.

“We game planned for Jacksonville. The focus was one at a time.”

Regardless of where the blame falls or who you wish to second guess, the Steelers came up short again of the ultimate goal of hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the seventh time in franchise history.

And that result leaves a bitter taste in many mouths entering what’s going to be a longer-than-expected offseason.

SETH’S SCOOPS

ROETHLISBERGER did announce that he plans to return next season. There had been reports and such that he may be considering retirement.

“I definitely have desire to play football. I love this game and I love these guys,” Roethlisberger said.

WHETHER or not Le’Veon Bell is back remains to be seen. The Steelers’ versatile running back had another huge game and season. However, his contract remains an issue. He has indicated he may retire if the Steelers try to place the franchise tag on him once again this year. That will be a hot-button story until training camp.

RYAN SHAZIER — the Steelers linebacker and former Ohio State Buckeye — was in the locker room with his teammates after the game. He was seriously injured against the Bengals in December and is currently confined to a wheelchair.

JOHN OATES of Hall of Oates sang the National Anthem. Country music act Dan and Shay performed at halftime.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or at twitter.com/TLSportsSeth