For a lot of people, they would probably say that the Pittsburgh Steelers had a powderpuff schedule through the first month of the season, and really, the manner in which things have played out since then really don’t change the story.
Out of the four teams that they faced and defeated in the first quarter of the season, all of them have losing records to this day, and two of them have just one win apiece. The Houston Texans are 1-6, while the New York Giants are 1-7. While each of the Denver Broncos and the Philadelphia Eagles have three wins, they also have four losses.
Overall, the teams that they faced during that stretch have a combined record of 8-21-1, or a winning percentage of .283. Now, their past three opponents, at the time that they faced team, each has only one or fewer losses, those being the Cleveland Browns, the Tennessee Titans, and the Baltimore Ravens, though each has struggled (the latter with regard to injuries) since the Steelers beat them.
Still, those three teams overall remain 15-7 on the season, and all three of them are currently positioned to make the postseason in the AFC. The last two of those games have even been on the road, and this has been the most difficult stretch of the entire season.
So how do they get up for a game against a 2-6 Dallas Cowboys team that literally is working on deciding which practice squad quarterback they are going to start on Sunday? How can they avoid a letdown in the proverbial ‘trap game’?
“For us, we’ve just got to stay humble”, JuJu Smith-Schuster told reporters yesterday. “I think every team is really good. I would say about two years ago, we were a really good team, and we went to the Oakland Raiders and we fell short, we lost that game to a team that was 1-6 or something like that”.
“Now we’re going to the Cowboys. Although they don’t have their quarterback, still, you just never know”, he added. “I think the biggest factor for the Cowboys is, they have the opportunity to beat an undefeated team. So I’m staying humble and going into Arlington, TX and just getting the job done”.
Although the Cowboys have struggled a lot, and of course the quarterback position is a mess, the Steelers have had issues in the past. Earlier this season, Jeff Driskel performed well for the Denver Broncos filling in for Drew Lock after they injured him early in the game.
Should fans be anxious about this game? I would say, no more than usual. Pittsburgh is by far the better team and is facing a defense that this offense can move against with their eyes closed.
