The Pittsburgh Steelers have battled their way to 6-3, and it’s been anything but pretty.
That’s been the modus operandi for head coach Mike Tomlin during his tenure, the Steelers having the NFL’s highest winning percentage in one-possession games since 2007. Over the last few seasons, Pittsburgh has found ways to pull out games despite an anemic offense under OC Matt Canada, first with QB Ben Roethlisberger on his last legs and now with QB Kenny Pickett still finding his footing when it comes to being a consistent and effective passer.
Despite the offense ranking 28th in the league in total yards and the defense ranking 28th in yards allowed, the Steelers find themselves firmly in the playoff hunt. Professional sports bettor Steve Fezzik jumped on the Ross Tucker Podcast recently to talk about the upcoming slate of games. When the two started to discuss the Steelers-Browns matchup, Fezzik didn’t hold back his thoughts about Pittsburgh and the quality of team is are, regardless of its winning record.
“I can only lean to Cleveland because Pittsburgh is a total and utter fraud,” Fezzik said on the Ross Tucker Podcast. “Nine-straight games they’ve been outgained, and yet they keep winning these games. It reminds me of a movie: Rocky III. You remember when Rocky’s beating up on set-ups and he wins a match against Hulk Hogan, but he’s no good at that time. He’s lost his fire, and Mr. T’s watching it and he’s just shaking his head. He storms out of the arena when Rocky wins another bout. That’s how I feel about Pittsburgh. It’s just… I can’t believe they’re playing a bunch of set-ups that are giving away the games.”
Fezzik isn’t the first media analyst to call out the Steelers for their play not reflecting their winning record. ESPN Get Up host Mike Greenberg called out Pittsburgh for being “so bad” despite starting the season 4-2, having gone 2-1 since then and currently holding the top Wild-Card spot in the AFC. Greenberg said that he didn’t understand how the Steelers kept winning games given their poor play on offense and their defense giving up tons of yards.
Comparing the Steelers to an unmotivated Rocky from Rocky III seems like a stretch, especially since teams like the Browns, Ravens, and Titans, whom Pittsburgh has beaten, are more than set-up dummies in a boxing ring. However, the Steelers have benefitted from plenty of the teams they’ve beaten giving them a break, like with the Ravens throwing a costly interception that gave the offense life while also seeing multiple receivers drop crucial passes that could have resulted scores.
Is this Steelers team a fraud with a 6-3 record? Plenty will compare it to the 2020 team that started the season 11-0 and lost momentum down the stretch, ultimately falling to the Cleveland Browns in the Wild-Card Round of the playoffs in a humiliating exit. This team has shown that it can beat some of the top teams in the AFC, including the Ravens and Browns, albeit the process not being pretty and the opposite team making a lot of mistakes.
Tomlin will argue that style points don’t matter and all that matters is winning football games, which is what Pittsburgh is currently doing. However, they will need to show improvement offensively if they want to go toe-to-toe with the top contenders in the AFC when playoff time rolls around unless their defense can continue to keep the score down against juggernaut teams in the conference.
