When I was a kid, I loved watching WWE, and my favorite wrestler was the Undertaker. His slow, cold trot down the entrance ramp with the bellowing, melodic gongs and eerie music had me convinced that whoever was in the ring with the Deadman was walking into their doom.
This week on the PFF Show’s 2023 NFL Week Eight Preview, analyst Steve Palazzolo said he believes the Pittsburgh Steelers will soon be digging their own grave.
“At some point though, the underlying metrics for Pittsburgh have to catch up to them, right?” Palazzolo said, according to video via the PFF YouTube page. “Just the baseline of the passing game is not great, defense still isn’t even that great on paper.”
To be frank, the Steelers have been a statistical anomaly this season. They are second to last in offensive yards per game, and sixth-last in scoring. The defense isn’t much better, ranking third-last in yards allowed per game and sitting smack in the middle for points allowed per game. In total, they have a minus-24 points differential on the season but somehow still sport a 4-2 record, just a half game behind the first-place Ravens in the formidable AFC North.
Did head coach Mike Tomlin steal the Undertaker’s magical urn and cast a spell on all teams that play against the Black and Gold? Unlikely, but not out of the question.
More so, it has been the late-game execution and timely defensive turnovers that have led the Steelers to their current standing. The team has forced 12 turnovers, good for third-most in the NFL, while limiting their own to equate to a differential of six.
On top of that, while the Steelers’ offense seems dead for the first three quarters games, it sits up, Undertaker-style, in the fourth thanks to QB Kenny Pickett. His comfortability in the “weighty moments of the game,” to steal a quote from Tomlin, has resulted in back-to-back late-game victories.
Despite this, the question does become is this sustainable? History certainly does not agree. The past five Super Bowl winners had a top-half offense in yards per game with four of the five ranking in the top five.
Still, maybe there’s hope as the offense looked improved last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. Even Palazzolo’s co-host Sam Monson referenced this in their showing, saying the Steelers finally utilized the middle of the field, and if they did so consistently, they could unlock a new layer of their offense. Either way, I would proceed with caution before burying the Steelers unless you want to see Tomlin’s hand emerge from the grave like the Undertaker at In Your House 1996.
