Today, Jonathan Heitritter and myself will debate a crucial question ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 regular season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
Here, we’ll debate: what is a successful Pittsburgh Steelers season?
Obviously, winning a Super Bowl is always the goal and anything short of that brings a tinge of disappointment. But “success” for the position this team is in doesn’t have to be so cut-and-dry. Below, Jonathan and I will argue what our definition of a successful season looks like.
Jonathan Heitritter: Win 10-11 Games & Win A Playoff Game
What is the definition of success? According to the Oxford dictionary, success is defined “as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” For the Pittsburgh Steelers, success is matching “The Standard” that has been set by Steelers’ teams of old: winning a lot of games, making the playoffs, winning playoff games, getting to the Super Bowl, and hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
However, success should have realistic expectations for each team, seeing as the Kansas City Chiefs and the Arizona Cardinals can look at a “successful 2023 season” completely two different ways. Sure, the goal is Super Bowl or bust (much like Kenny Pickett mentioned in a recent interview) but the Steelers’ first step to that is getting into the dance… and winning a playoff game.
Would just making the playoffs be a successful season for Pittsburgh in 2023? To some degree, yes, but getting into the dance only to get bounced in the first round would put this Steelers team in-line with the last several teams that lost to the Chiefs, Browns, and Jaguars in uninspiring fashion. We’ve seen Pittsburgh make into the playoffs recently, only to have the wind taken out of their sails before they could get anything going.
Pittsburgh needs to get the monkey off their backs in 2023. They can’t just make it to the playoffs. The need to win a playoff game. It’s a feat that Pittsburgh hasn’t accomplished since 2016, having multiple teams try and fail with a surplus of talent on the roster. Pittsburgh has crafted a talented roster during the offseason, signing key free agents, competed trades, and drafted a talented rookie class to pair with the superstars already on the roster as well as the young budding stars that have been developing the last couple of years.
The hype surrounding Pittsburgh has started to get out of control as they tore up the preseason, looking like a juggernaut in exhibition play. While that level of play may be hard to sustain for a full 17-game season, it’s time Pittsburgh starts living up to “The Standard” once again, get into the dance, and win one for Steelers Nation. They have the team to do it, now they just have to get it done.
Alex Kozora: Confidently Make The Playoffs
This one might come as a surprise. Because few have been as vocal as me about this Steelers’ team not winning a playoff game since 2016. Mike Tomlin’s non-losing streak is well and good, and expecting a Lombardi every year is foolish, but a playoff win every now and then sure would be nice. That’s the team’s standard. Allowing that streak to continue would hurt.
But I understand the position this team is in. Better than a season ago, no doubt, but still a youthful group in key areas, including at quarterback, and in an ultra-competitive AFC and AFC North. This isn’t the NFC. You could be the eighth or ninth best team, be playoff-worthy, and still sit at home during Wild Card weekend. The top seven teams will have truly earned it. No one is tripping and falling into a playoff spot. That’s why I added “confidently” making the playoffs. I assume it’s a requirement but you don’t want to be 9-8 and squeak in. By a 10-7 or better club who isn’t sweating bullets the final minutes of the season, like they have for *checks notes* roughly the last 14 years.
Of course a playoff win is preferable. But if they make it to the playoffs, it’ll be a clear step in the right direction. It means the offense took a jump, put more points on the board. It means the defense was stout and met expectations. And it means they held their own against the AFC North, likely going at least 3-3 in the division to make it to postseason play.
Last year was the transition. The post-Roethlisberger era. This year is the step forward. Pieces in place, the team begins to realize how good they can be. Next year, that is the year to make a run. It’s what the Philadelphia Eagles did with Jalen Hurts. It’s the path Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars are on (bad team, playoff team, now serious contenders). And it’s the journey I see the Steelers taking.
The caveat is this. Hopefully the playoff loss isn’t the blowout or ugly defeat they have been. Upset by Jacksonville and Cleveland, dog-walked by Kansas City. There are no moral victories but a competitive playoff defeat to a Buffalo, Kansas City, whoever, would be in itself a small step forward.
Don’t get it twisted. I’m not going to be happy about a playoff loss. I’m not clapping for it like a terrible guess on Family Feud (Good answers, good answer, GIANT RED ‘X” OF DEFEAT). I’m just understanding the big picture. What progress looks like. Unless you’re hoisting the Lombardi, it’ll always leave you wanting more.
