The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Denver Broncos 13-6 on Sunday, giving them sole possession of first place in the AFC North with a 2-0 record. Their defense dominated — just like they did against Atlanta in Week 1 — and the offense once again struggled to produce touchdowns. The Steelers were expected to beat a Broncos team led by rookie quarterback Bo Nix, but it was still encouraging to see the team take care of business following a tough road win against the Falcons.
The loss apparently left a bad taste in the mouths of some Broncos fans.
During the Mile High Sports show on 98.1 FM, co-host Nate Lundy expressed his frustration with Steelers fans while also taking some shots at their team.
“Steelers fans are obnoxious,” Lundy said. “A lot of opposing fans are obnoxious, and I knew that there were going to be a lot of Pittsburgh fans there. And frankly, a ton of them were really good. The only statement I’m going to make for Pittsburgh fans, you beat a rookie quarterback by seven points. And your offense looked pretty damn inept too. So I’m sure you’re happy that you got the road win. But holy cow, Pittsburgh y’all are in trouble. You guys are in trouble. You might have T.J. Watt, but you’re in trouble, man. If you couldn’t do much of anything against this team, this might finally be the year that Tomlin breaks his streak of above .500. This might be it.”
These are some fighting words from Lundy, but it’s safe to assume that they were made as a reaction late on Monday night following another tough loss by his Denver Broncos after an underwhelming performance from Nix.
I don’t love how harsh his delivery was, but his comments about Steelers fans might be on the mark: we can be obnoxious. After all, the fan base did earn fifth place in a recent survey of fan rudeness, cited as being “the most foul-mouthed [fans] in the league.”
Looking beyond the surface, it’s clear that Lundy was bothered by the large Black-and-Gold presence in Denver and T.J. Watt hyping up the road crowd to wave their Terrible Towels after every big play. Steelers fans travel as well as any in the NFL, and it can make home games that much more frustrating for opposing teams.
Now his comments on the Steelers being in trouble aren’t as justified.
The Steelers beat the Broncos by just seven points, but they won by playing to their strengths. They aren’t a team that’s built to blow out lesser opponents. Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith want to grind out teams by pounding the run and limiting mistakes on offense, leaning on their elite defense to make enough plays to put them in position to win games. The formula isn’t always pretty, but it’s worked effectively so far.
The offense was inept at times against the Broncos, as Lundy said, but that was due to offensive penalties more than anything else. Justin Fields threw for 101 yards and a touchdown in the first half giving the Steelers a 10-0 lead heading into halftime, but he threw for just 16 yards the rest of the game. The team finished with 10 penalties for 78 yards, including five holding penalties and an offensive pass interference that took away a George Pickens touchdown. Those mistakes need to be cleaned up as the Steelers face more formidable teams down the road.
That brings me to one of the points made by Lundy. “You might have T.J. Watt, but you’re in trouble” is a statement that completely ignores what happened in the game on Sunday. Watt is far and away the most important player on the Steelers and arguably the best defender in the NFL, but the all-around dominance of this defense through two weeks can’t be ignored. Joey Porter Jr. held Courtland Sutton to just one catch. Damontae Kazee and Cory Trice Jr. picked off Bo Nix. Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton shut down the Broncos’ running game. Watt played his part as usual, but it’s been the sum of the parts that has enabled the Steelers defense to dominate. It isn’t “just T.J. Watt” this year.
We’ll likely have other radio hosts and media members dismissing the Steelers’ success this season, but as long as the team keeps on winning, we’ll let them dish out their hot takes.
