The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2020 season is now in the books, and it ended in spectacular fashion—though the wrong kind of spectacular—in a dismal postseason defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns, sending them into an early offseason mode after going 12-4 in the regular season and winning the AFC North for the first time in three years.
Since then, they have lost several players in free agency who were key members of the offense and defense, and multiple starters retired, as well. They made few notable additions in free agency, and are banking on contributions on offense from their rookies, as well as perhaps a last ride for Ben Roethlisberger.
The only thing facing them now as they head into 2021 is more questions, and right now, they lack answers. They know that they have Roethlisberger for one more year, but was that even the right decision? How successful can Najee Harris be behind a questionable offensive line? What kind of changes can Matt Canada and Adrian Klemm bring to the offense? And how can the defense retain the status quote with the losses of Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, and Mike Hilton?
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, but this is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all their uncertainty.
Question: Would you ever want to see the Steelers on Hard Knocks?
With the Steelers set to open training camp next week, along with the Dallas Cowboys, we also know that HBO’s Hard Knocks program is just around the corner. The Cowboys are the highlighted team this year, who play the Steelers in the Hall of Fame game, which means there’s a fair chance we do see some tangential coverage of Pittsburgh as a result.
Hard Knocks can be riveting football entertainment, but generally, it’s not something that teams want to sign up for. The Steelers certainly have never been one to volunteer, and to date, they have never been featured, but there are certain scenarios in which a team may not decline an offer.
That doesn’t apply to the Steelers this year, but it will again at some point in the future, most likely. In the event that that scenario arises, and Pittsburgh is chosen to the team that is featured on Hard Knocks for a season, what would your reaction be?
I don’t know if anybody’s ever done research into this, but honestly, I doubt there is much of any correlation between teams who are featured on the program and teams who unexpectedly perform below expectations. It’s generally regarded as a distraction for the team involved, even an intrusion, but it is entertaining. So as a fan, not just of the Steelers, but of football entertainment, would you hypothetically be on board with Pittsburgh on Hard Knocks?
