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: Does the game delay hurt the Steelers’ chances of winning?
There hasn’t been a whole lot else to talk about over the course of the past 48 hours or so. No wonder it’s been a hot topic of conversation. We live in a society of winners and losers, so naturally we have to filter everything through that lens. The latest: who’s better off for the Wildcard game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers being postponed?
It does seem that the prevailing narrative is it’s good for the Bills. The delay was because of extreme weather, and as hopefully even the stupidest among us finally realized yesterday, there was no way in hell a game was going to be played in the afternoon in Orchard Park, NY yesterday. Even if there were, nobody would have been able to see it. Including the ones playing.
But there should be visibility today, and a game, and a winner. The Bills were always favored to win, but it seemed most anticipated the poor weather would hurt them more than the Steelers. The thinking was that they have a stronger passing game that is more likely to suffer, and the Steelers are arguably more equipped to run the ball, including a two-headed attack at running back.
It’s not necessarily going to be a sunny day out there today, they could still be playing in the elements. We’ve heard several times that the Steelers stand a better chance of winning if they can make the game dirty, muddy, gritty, or some other synonym expressing a lack of beauty and cleanliness in their game.
At the end of the day, both teams are playing in the same conditions. Both teams are conditioned to play in poor weather simply by virtue of geographic reality. Both teams have played in inclement weather. Both teams can run the ball and throw the ball.
But it’s fun to watch them play in the snow, no?
