Not a lot of quarterbacks have won multiple Super Bowls. The Pittsburgh Steelers are very fortunate to have had two in their history. They are, in fact, one of just two franchises who can make that claim, the other being the Dallas Cowboys. Despite the pair of Lombardi Trophies Ben Roethlisberger has contributed, however, it has never been enough.
After all, those two wins came in the first five years of his career. It’s been over a decade since they last won the Super Bowl, and nearly a decade since they played for one. They failed to do so in the Killer Bs era with Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. They’re coming off a non-playoff season now, with both superstars gone, off to an 0-2 start, and Roethlisberger on the Reserve/Injured List.
It’s a disaster. They are beyond hope. Nobody can make any plays, either offensively or defensively. At this point, it would be a revelation if they can simply finish better than fourth in the AFC North, because at least the Cincinnati Bengals still have Andy Dalton, with A.J. Green returning and John Ross finally looking like a wide receiver.
Don’t give in, though, says JuJu Smith-Schuster. Remember him? The third-year wide receiver is currently the team leader in receptions and receiving yards in this young season. On Sunday, he just surpassed Randy Moss to become the youngest player in NFL history to reach 2500 receiving yards for his career.
“Stay with us. Stay positive”, he told Joshua Axelrod of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this week. “Let’s keep moving forward. It’s going to be a great season. Don’t leave us out yet. We still have conference play and a lot more games to play”.
🙏🏾 #SteelerNation 💛 pic.twitter.com/OrxC8uMcV4
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) September 18, 2019
Following a road loss to the New England Patriots and a home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the latter at least being a competitive game, the Steelers now head to the west coast to play the 2-0 San Francisco 49ers. They have a tough schedule this year. But they still have talent on the roster that should only get better as the season progresses.
“We got to stay positive and have to work with the guys on our field in our locker room”, Smith-Schuster said. “It was unfortunate for our best player to go down…but he’ll be around helping and supporting us”.
Meanwhile, the reins are turned to Mason Rudolph, the player they drafted last year believing that he has the talent, demeanor, and skill set to be a starter in this league someday. They will now have to find out sooner rather than later on an accelerated timeline. If he looks the part, he can salvage the season.
