Jerome Bettis doesn’t think the “Steelers Way” is lost forever. It’s just waiting to be found again. Joining the Dan Patrick Show Thursday, Bettis weighed in on the team’s issues on and off the field and if the culture is truly gone.
Patrick framed the question around Ben Roethlisberger’s comments that set off a media firestorm. On his podcast last week, Roethlisberger questioned if the franchise that he was part of for so long had lost its culture.
“For one, they haven’t needed a quarterback for the last, what, 14, 15 years [Roethlisberger] was there,” Bettis told Patrick. “So there was a lot of continuity between eras, if you will. So I don’t necessarily agree with that. I think they don’t have the leadership on offense. You’ve got a lot of young guys on offense trying to find their way, and that’s what you’re seeing. It’s not that the Steelers Way is gone. It’s just that you just don’t have the consistency offensively.”
Pittsburgh’s undergone radical change since Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season. The offensive line has been revamped, the wide receivers and tight ends have seen change, and of course, there’s a new franchise hopeful in QB Kenny Pickett. The “old guard” of Roethlisberger, David DeCastro, and Maurkice Pouncey are all gone and no longer is there a bridge between both eras. With that comes the need to discover that culture again and work through the pains that come along with it.
But the hope was to experience those growing pains a year ago. In 2022, the Steelers had the youngest offense in football and clearly had to reinvent themselves. Expectations were reasonably low. But with the group largely sticking together in 2023 and on-paper upgrades to the offense (OG Isaac Seumalo, OT Broderick Jones, TE Darnell Washington), the offense was expected to take a leap. Instead, it has stepped backwards. Now, the culture is in question. It’s why the defense hasn’t had these questions and issues despite its struggles. Leadership still has a core of Cam Heyward, part of that “old guard,” T.J. Watt, and Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“You heard Ben talk about the leadership on defense,” Bettis said. “You just don’t have it on offense. And I think that’s what they’re missing.”
To Bettis’ point, if the offense could produce, many of these questions would be quelled. Winning is the cure-all or, at least, a masking agent of a team’s problems. Frustration has piled up right along the losses. Even just getting one victory and headed back in the right direction would calm things down.
But long-term and big-picture, this team needs leaders. Pickett is supposed to spearhead that, the quarterback, a captain, and someone regarded with maturity and a strong work ethic. But unlike the locker room Roethlisberger stepped into, one full of established veterans, Pickens has to balance a young and new group finding its footing.
Check out the full clip below.
