Call it luck, call it the other team making too many self-inflicted mistakes, call it whatever you want.
But you better call it the Steelers being 4-2 on the season.
That’s all that matters.
For The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, his belief in the Black and Gold moving forward in the 2023 season continues to grow stronger and stronger, especially as they continue to find ways to win in rather wild, improbable games.
Appearing on the latest episode of his podcast “The Bills Simmons Podcast” the longtime talking head stated that he believes in the Steelers coming out of their eventful 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium and sees the team finding a way to 12 wins on the season, even with the offensive struggles.
“They’re 4-2. I’ve watched every play of all six games. I have idea how they’re 4-2, but they’ve hit the point now where I feel like they’re going to win even if there’s no signs,” Simmons said to co-host Cousin Sal Iacono, according to audio via the show’s Spotify page. “…We’ve seen this before. …They’re 4-2, I totally believe in them, and I feel like they’re going to go 12-5 and then have a negative point differential.”
Simmons isn’t alone in questioning how in the world the Steelers at 4-2, yet here they are.
Seemingly each and every game, things feel like they’re about to go sideways in a hurry as the defense can’t get a stop and the offense can’t do much of anything. Then, late in the game things happen and the Steelers are somehow in the lead and are picking up big wins over some great teams in the NFL, like in Week Two against the Cleveland Browns, Week Five against the Baltimore Ravens, and then the showing in Week Seven on the road against the Rams.
The Steelers had absolutely nothing going for them entering the fourth quarter Sunday in Los Angeles. They had just 110 yards of total offense against the Rams and had converted just six first downs and were 1-for-7 on third down.
Then, second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett hit wide receiver Diontae Johnson for a 39-yard catch-and-run. Two plays later running back Jaylen Warren raced home untouched for a 13-yard touchdown. The Steelers then forced a quick three-and-out and then went down the field for the go-ahead score as Najee Harris plunged in from three yards out.
Late in the game, the Steelers seemingly couldn’t get out of their own way as Johnson was called for taunting after drawing a pass interference penalty on Rams’ cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, and then Pickett looked well short on a QB sneak. But in the end, it was ruled a first down and Rams head coach Sean McVay had no timeouts to try and challenge, and with the clock outside of two minutes the spot couldn’t be a booth review, leading to the Steelers’ win.
They’re 4-2 and finding ways to win wacky games. As former NFL defensive end Chris Long stated earlier in the month, the Steelers like the rock fights, and head coach Mike Tomlin is quite good in them from a coaching perspective.
The games aren’t pretty, there’s a lot of randomness to it all, and yet there seems to be on constant lately: the Steelers winning.
Simmons seeing a 12-5 season from the Steelers feels like quite a bit of a reach, but this team is going to find a way to win more games than it loses in 2023, that much is certain.
