Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan was not happy watching the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. Much like the rest of us, Khan was watching from home. However, while most of us enjoy watching the big game from home, he didn’t.
Khan disliked the experience so much that he talked about it twice on Thursday. The first time came while addressing a small group of local reporters outside the NFL Combine. He was talking about the success of last year’s draft class, but he brought the discussion back to the primary reason for playing in the NFL.
“That’s not where we want to be,” Khan said about watching the Super Bowl at home. “So we have to be better. Everybody’s got to be better, myself included. So, our goal is for someone to be watching us in the Super Bowl.”
That last statement about it being the goal to be in the Super Bowl has been called into question repeatedly since the season ended. The discussion has revolved around whether non-losing seasons are good enough for the Steelers, a franchise that has long prided itself on winning titles.
People have also questioned if the Steelers are serious about being contenders because of the quarterback position. It seems like the Steelers will give QB Kenny Pickett every single chance this offseason to win the starting job. If that’s indeed the case, fans feel like the team can’t be serious about winning if they continue to roll with a quarterback who has failed to throw touchdowns at a historic rate.
Later in the day, Khan doubled down on the talk about playing in the Super Bowl next season. He joined Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller for Movin’ The Chains on SiriusXM NFL Radio after his podium appearance at the Combine. Miller asked Khan about the AFC North, and Khan wrapped back around to the Super Bowl.
“At the end of the day, everybody in the AFC North was sitting at home watching the Super Bowl, watching Kansas City win,” Khan said. “I’m sure I’m not going to speak for the other teams, but that’s unacceptable for all of us. We have a higher standard than that. We’re working hard to make sure the Chiefs or somebody else are watching us on TV next year.”
Khan is echoing statements by both head coach Mike Tomlin and owner Art Rooney II that the lack of playoff success recently is not okay. Fans are impatient, too, and everyone is closely watching what the Steelers will do this offseason at the quarterback position. Plenty of people believe that the Steelers aren’t serious about contending if Pickett starts Week 1 in 2024.
So until the Steelers bring in someone who can elevate the offense or Pickett proves he can, they’ll believe that Khan, Tomlin and Rooney are just talking rather than doing.
