The Pittsburgh Steelers are widely predicted to be last in the AFC North. Since 2002, when the four teams as we know started making up the AFC North, that has never happened. And they’ve only been third six times out of those 22 seasons.
So what gives? Why have people lost faith in the Pittsburgh Steelers? They had a good offseason overall, filling some key holes in both free agency and the draft. They have top-end talent in guys like T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick. The depth is generally there, save maybe at corner and wide receiver. And Mike Tomlin is one of the best coaches in football year in and year out.
But there are question marks. It seems like Russell Wilson is going to start at quarterback, but who really knows for sure? Is a question like that enough to make you give up on the Steelers? Kay Adams certainly isn’t, and she shared her thoughts on Up and Adams on the team.
“Is it actually Russell Wilson? Is Justin Fields going to wrestle it away from him? Whoever wins it is an upgrade from what they had… the fact that they still finished 10-7, Tomlin, you are an absolute GOAT.” Adams said. “When are we going to stop doing this to Mike Tomlin? When are we going to get it? If it’s Russ, if it’s Justin, this team is going to be relevant. This is a playoff team to me.”
It feels like there is the classic conflicting schools of thought, and only one can be right. On one hand, they were 10-7 last season! They had Kenny Pickett or the ghost of Mitch Trubusky start 14 regular season games for them. Whatever you think of Wilson or Fields, it’s an upgrade from the atrocity that was their quarterback play last season.
But then you look at it from the critics’ perspective. Who are they going to beat in the division? Baltimore looks stacked again. Joe Burrow is lethal when healthy, and the Browns had similarly rough quarterback play to the Steelers last year and still succeeded. One of those teams would have to give for the Steelers to not come in last in the AFC North.
I’m not going to bet against history and Mike Tomlin just yet, however. The main knock on the franchise over the past few seasons is that they’ve been passive in acquiring and cycling through talent, especially at the quarterback position. Well, they did exactly that this offseason, and people still aren’t satisfied. As Adams said, we need to stop doing this to Mike Tomlin. Sure they haven’t been winning playoff games, but having them as a surefire last-place team is disrespectful until proven otherwise.
