It’s not about how it looks, it is about wins in the win column. That is Pittsburgh Steelers football in the year 2023. Despite being outplayed in arguably every game, and actually being outgained in every game, the Steelers are 5-3 and one game back of the top spot in the AFC North.
Because of their anemic offense and bend but don’t break defense, the Steelers do not have much support from anyone in the media. In fact CBS Sports ranked them as the second worst team in the playoff picture. Despite this, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon has come to the Steelers’ defense, telling people to stop worrying about statistical numbers and worry about the moments that actually matter.
“This is a great example why people need to become less obsessed with statistical measure and pay more attention to how a team does what it does in certain parts of the game that impact the game,” Wilbon said on ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption.
The “weighty moments,” as Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin would say, are vital to games and no one is better in them than the Pittsburgh Steelers. In one score games entering the fourth quarter, the Steelers have outscored their opponent 42-3.
Wilbon continued his support for the Steelers, saying that he likes the fact that they just win, even if the highlight shows might not.
“They seem to figure out what it is week by week that they need to do,” said Wilbon. “Oh, they need to play defense every week. And, you know what I mean, that’s not popular, people don’t want to hear that. They want quarterbacks who throw for a bunch of numbers and satisfy their fantasy leanings. Sorry. And so, I like the Steelers because of this. They win the games and they’re not gonna be pretty, and they’re not gonna do it in any way that’s gonna make a lot of highlights on these shows, but they win the games.”
Winning cures all ailments, and even if Pittsburgh is not winning the statistical battles, they are winning the games. While many say this is not sustainable, it feels like Pittsburgh has been winning this way for years, so maybe it is.
The biggest obstacle for Pittsburgh is their offense as they are only scoring 16.6 points per game. That number has to improve if they want to make a playoff run, and Thursday night’s victory over the Titans showed that it might be.
While things were not great, Pittsburgh’s run game got going as they totaled 166 rushing yards against a decent Titans run defense. If they can continue that formula, and Pickett can play translate his fourth quarter performances to the entire game, then the offense can turn into a unit that does not drag the rest of the team down.
As of now though, the Steelers are winning games. And that is all that matters.
