Remember when the Pittsburgh Steelers used to be ‘bad’ on the road? Well, by the most important barometer, they have been the best road warriors over the course of the past season’s worth of games. Following yesterday’s victory in Baltimore, a place that has been tough for them to win historically, they have now posted a record of 14-1-1 in games away from Heinz Field in their last 16, dating back to the 2016 season.
The last team to beat them in regulation before that streak? The Baltimore Ravens of course. But they have beaten the Ravens in Baltimore twice during that streak now. The only times they haven’t won games have, frankly, come down to botches on special teams, and resulting in overtime results.
The Steelers only drew to a tie in the season opener with the Cleveland Browns, a game that they had ample opportunity to win, but the final opportunity in that sequence was a 42-yard field goal attempt by Pro Bowl kicker Chris Boswell, which he missed. He has missed at least one kick of some kind in almost every game, including an extra point yesterday.
The actual loss? You would have to go all the way back to Week Three of the 2017 season against the Chicago Bears, a game in which many players admitted that they were distracted by off-field issues regarding the President’s comments about football players, and the ensuing pre-game anthem fiasco.
Regardless of the off-field nonsense, the reason that they lost the game is because they allowed a field goal to be blocked and returned to set up a field goal the other way. Eli Rogers also muffed a punt that the Bears recovered and went on to score on the ensuing drive. The Steelers clawed their way back into overtime but Chicago scored a touchdown on the opening drive.
With a 5-2-1 record on the season, the Steelers are now 3-0-1 on the road, including a comeback victory in Cincinnati. They went 7-1 last season, including blowouts in Houston and Baltimore and game-winning drives in Cincinnati (again) and Indianapolis.
Pittsburgh lost its three of its first four games on the road to start the 2016 season before winning the final four on the road, which, you’ll never guess, yet again included a game-winning drive against the Bengals.
The Steelers a 3-0 in Cincinnati, 2-0 in Baltimore, and 2-0-1 in Cleveland since the streak began following a loss to the Ravens. Home cooking is always a welcome thing (even if they are only 2-2 so far this year at Heinz Field), but it’s important to take care of things while away on business as well, and they have certainly been doing that.
