The Pittsburgh Steelers are now into the offseason, following a year in which they had high hopes for Super Bowl success, but ultimately fell short of even reaching the postseason at 8-8. It was a tumultuous season, both on the field and within the roster, and the months to follow figure to have some drama as well, especially in light of the team’s failure to improve upon the year before.
The team made some bold moves over the course of the past year, and some areas of the roster look quite a bit different than they did a year ago, or even at the start of the regular season. Whether due to injuries or otherwise, a lot has transpired, and we’re left to wonder how much more will change prior to September.
How will Ben Roethlisberger’s rehab progress as he winds toward recovery from an elbow injury that cost him almost the entire season? What about some of the key young players, some of whom have already impressed, others still needing quite a bit of growth? Will there be changes to the coaching staff? The front office? Who will they not retain in free agency, and whom might they bring in?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: How concerned are you about the NFL’s ability to play a ‘complete’ season (including the possibility of a postponement?
I think it goes without saying that everyone who cares about football, and specifically the NFL, has some level of concern over whether or not the league will be able to successfully complete its 2020 season—and what that ‘complete’ season will actually look like when all is said and done.
With players now finally reporting to begin taking their Covid-19 tests, and in time their physicals, before beginning to actually train, we are on the precipice of the season, at long last. With no rookie orientation, no OTAs, no minicamp, it’s been a long haul since the end of the 2019 season for outside observers, with only an experimental NFL Draft in between.
The MLB is showing the country what the risks look like of playing out the season. Half of the Miami Marlins team has tested positive for Covid-19, and their games are being postponed—for obvious reasons. This can very well happen to an NFL team as well, but how would they handle it?
What would it take for the league to cancel the season? How far will they go? Will they shorten the season? Force teams to forfeit games? All teams to have planned an uneven number of games? I think many of these questions have yet to be answered, at least publicly.
