Things seem rather bleak at the moment for the Pittsburgh Steelers, especially coming off a disastrous loss to one of the worst teams in football Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
The Steelers looked unprepared, unable to get up for the game against the Arizona Cardinals and were really sloppy in all three phases.
Good news is, the Steelers can flush that game quickly and move on to New England as the Patriots come to town Thursday night for a prime-time matchup on the North Shore.
For NBC Sports’ Peter King, who appeared on the 93.7 The Fan Cook and Joe show Tuesday with Joe Starkey and Ron Cook, things might look a bit dark and dreary for the Steelers right now, but there’s a real opportunity in front of them Thursday night against the lowly Patriots.
“Well, depending on what day you watch ’em, they are on the other side of mediocre. But I always say this about a Mike Tomlin team, and that is that just when you think the day is darkest, they figure out a way to win,” King said of the Steelers, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “And luckily for them, they got the worst team in football coming in this week in the New England Patriots. I don’t think we ever thought we’d say that about the New England Patriots, but they are, they’re the worst team in football.
“So to me, this is a great time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to have the Patriots coming in.”
Patriots and worst team in football have not gone together in the last 23 years or so since Bill Belichick took over as the franchise’s head coach. In those 23 years, the Patriots have been a thorn in the Steelers’ side, always sitting near the top of the AFC, winning six Super Bowls along the way, oftentimes keeping the Steelers from reaching that mountaintop in the process despite some great teams.
But the two franchise seem to be going in different directions. The Patriots are as bad as it gets right now, especially on the offensive side of the football. At 2-10, New England has a hold on a top-five draft pick. The Patriots have gone through major ups and downs with quarterback Mac Jones, leading to his benching for Bailey Zappe.
The Patriots are even preparing to get rookie Malik Cunningham potentially involved offensively.
On the season, the Patriots are 28th in yards per game offensively (290.4), 23rd in passing yards per game (186.8), 21st in rushing yards per game (103.7) and 32nd in points per game at 12.3, coming of a four-game stretch in which they set an NFL record dating back to 1938, losing four straight games despite allowing 10 points or less.
Though the Patriots’ defense is a great one, New England is just a bad, bad team, period. The Steelers have a bad taste in their mouths coming off of Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. The lowly Patriots present a great opportunity to bounce back, especially on a short week.
