The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Will the Steelers continue to slide right into Mike Tomin’s first losing season?
On the whole, the Steelers were looking pretty good just a week ago. Sitting at 7-4, they were right in the mix among the top teams in the conference and held control over their fate for a divisional title. They looked to have a relatively soft schedule down the home stretch on top of that, set up to face a pair of two-win teams.
Since then, of course, they lost to both of those two-win teams, at home. And now nobody can claim to be surprised by how low they might fall by the end of the season. Sitting at just one game above .500, they would only have to go 1-3 the rest of the way to secure head coach Mike Tomlin’s first-ever losing season.
Up next are the 7-5 Indianapolis Colts, who have found their footing with Gardner Minshew at quarterback. The rematch against the Cincinnati Bengals follows, another team in more of a rhythm after adjusting to a backup quarterback in Jake Browning.
They wrap things up with a trip out west against the Seattle Seahawks, who have been struggling lately with QB Geno Smith dealing with injuries, before wrapping up the season in Baltimore against the Ravens. They managed to beat the AFC North leaders at home earlier this year, but not without a lot of self-inflicted wounds by the visitors.
Sitting here today, do you think the Steelers manage to at least split these last four games and finish 9-8 or better? Or do you believe the bottom has fallen out from under them following back-to-back losses to the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots? Thursday night was the first time all season they did not respond to a loss by winning the next game. Notably, they only had QB Kenny Pickett for about a quarter of the time in those games, and he’s expected to miss at least another game or two—or three, or four…
