We’re only one game into the 2024 NFL schedule, and Pittsburgh Steelers fans are already succumbing to mile-high aspirations.
Perched atop the AFC North with a lonely one-game lead over all other contenders, the Steelers head to Denver to take on what looked like a woeful stable of Broncos in week one.
No. The Steelers didn’t do all that much in the first week against the Atlanta Falcons. In fact, they displayed an offensive touchdown anemia retrospective of their early 2000’s teams.
This enthusiasm is based more on how the rest of the teams on their upcoming schedule performed in their opening acts.
Take a look at the Steelers’ upcoming matches: at Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, at Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, at Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, New York Giants, at Washington Commanders, Baltimore Ravens, at Cleveland Browns, and at Cincinnati Bengals.
You want to know what these opponents’ combined record is after week one?
2-8.
Alright, alright. The Baltimore Ravens looked impressive even in defeat. And the Bengals and Browns are always a tough out. But still, many of those teams looked really bad in their debut.
Plus, I’m trying to sell albums here. You can’t fault the Spin for putting some Rock n’ Roll in the jukebox.
Also, if I’m going to slam the team when they get off to a poor start (which is a time-honored tradition of mine), I’ve got to compensate them with sugary words when they do the opposite.
So…let’s pump up the jam and give it a Spin.
A Tale Of Two Kickers
What a bummer for punter Cameron Johnston! He was rapidly becoming one of my favorite players on the team. We’ve been used to punts getting shanked thirty yards sideways for so many years, but Johnston’s field-switching, booming boomerangs were refreshing.
It looked bad when it happened, and it inevitably resulted in a season-ending knee injury for the Aussie. It’s good to see Corliss Waitman getting a second chance donning Black and Gold. Hopefully, he’ll be able to Carpe Diem this career opportunity.
As for placekicker Chris Boswell…my goodness, how good is he?
The Steelers have been blessed to have some great ones through the years including Shaun Suisham, Jeff Reed, Kris Brown, Gary Anderson, and even Roy Gerala whose greatest claim to fame is being the reason why Jack Lambert rag dolled Cliff Harris in Super Bowl X.
Yet, is Boz the best of them all? You wouldn’t be wrong for being a little giddy after he rather single-footedly won the game on Sunday with six three-pointers and half of those beyond the 50-yard distance.
With more than 87 percent career accuracy and an uncanny ability to hit the long ones, he certainly is in the discussion of the Steelers G.O.A.T. and should be high on the list of the best of the NFL overall.
Fields Of Dreams
Suffering from a calf injury like Russell Wilson is no small setback. Unfortunately, it’s one of the worst soft tissue ailments when it comes to recidivism. Even if Wilson can get another chance to be the Steelers’ starter, there is no guarantee he wouldn’t have his calf issue resurface repeatedly this season.
This is why Justin Fields should be the Steelers’ quarterback this season— unless his carriage turns into a pumpkin, as it did in Chicago.
He’s already been announced as the starting quarterback for this weekend’s game and the subsequent home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. (By the way, as someone who lived in San Diego for 16 years during the Don Coryell years…that still doesn’t sound right.)
At first, it may seem rather odd to declare Fields as the starter of the next two games until you throw it up to the booth for further review.
At this point in his NFL career, Justin Fields is going to be who Justin Fields is. Many NFL scouts will tell you if a quarterback struggles with accuracy in college, he’s going to have a Déjà Vu experience in the pros.
As a passer, Fields is not going to suddenly morph into Drew Brees. His passing accuracy ceiling is not going to change much. Start dealing with that reality.
But, as a running hybrid type of quarterback, many still believe he can be elite. That is if the offense is custom-designed for Fields.
I’m one of those who feels Kordell Stewart never got a decent chance in the Burgh as they tried to make him something he wasn’t and ruined his confidence in the process.
Why not go all in on Fields’ capabilities? Why not make this offense a little freaky?
We already have run-lovin’ Arthur Smith as the offensive coordinator. The offensive line is shaping up to have some serious road-grading potential. Beyond George Pickens, there is kind of slim pickings at the wide receiver position. (You folks aren’t still waiting for Brandon Aiyuk to be traded, are you?)
Plus…there is the defense. Yes, the Steelers defense. It seems to be rehabilitated.
So enough with the indecisions regarding who will be the Steelers’ quarterback this season. Since Fields came into the league, they never let him be all he could be.
What have we got to lose? We don’t have any Hall of Fame quarterback hidden away in some closet (at least one with two functional calves). Wilson looks destined to be a backup quarterback moving forward.
Let’s make this offense the Fields of Dreams.
Center Of Attention
A Pittsburgh Steelers team without an All-Pro center? It’s not genuine-grade.
Dermontti Dawson. Mike Webster. Maurkice Pouncey. Ray Mansfield. Jeff Hartings. Now, those are Steelers centers.
Once the good ones are drafted, they end up anchoring the Steelers’ lines almost as long as…the team has its head coaches (with the exception of Hartings, whose stint was short).
Since Pouncey retired, what have we been thinking? Did we expect we could cut corners in this position and still be alright? Let this shadowy phase of Steelers’ history never be repeated!
Is it too early to get hyped up about rookie center Zach Frazier?
Nope.
Achilles Heel
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ greatest strength is also their greatest weakness.
They have no player on their roster better than T.J. Watt. There aren’t too many rosters in the NFL that have a better player than T.J. Watt.
That’s the good news for Pittsburgh. The bad news is that they are 1-10 in games where he has been watching from the sidelines nursing, and in some cases even doctoring, an injury.
This isn’t a sustainable statistic for any team that wants to be a contender of sound significance.
Understandably, if a team loses its franchise quarterback, this level of misfortune may result in a major setback. It’s the nature of the game. There is no more important player on the field than your signal caller.
At the same time, the NFL has responded to television ratings and seat-selling causualty risks by putting referreeing air bags around the star quarterbacks in the league. They protect this investment like it’s coming to work in a Brinks truck.
That’s just not the case with defensive ends and linebackers in the league. The nature of the position makes them highly vulnerable to flattened tires and blown-out gaskets.
That is a very fragile basket for this team to place all its golden eggs.
Until the Steelers can figure out a way to have a Plan B for those likely seasonal moments when Watt is forced to wear a hoodie, they won’t be a true contender, and neither the front office nor the team’s fans would be able to cry in their milk when it happens.
We don’t want to be the team of milky tears.
Getting Tebowed
For those of you who are history buffs, the Steelers haven’t exactly experienced a Rocky Mountain High when they travel to Colorado.
Many of us are still suffering from severely vacillating bouts of anger and depression after watching Tim Tebow beat our (at the time) vaunted defense in overtime in a 2012 playoff loss. Remember that deep pass to Demarius Thomas? The horror. The horror!
The Steelers have lost the next three games since then that have been played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High—something about that thin air.
There could have been so much more journalistic intrigue if Russell Wilson was returning for a revenge match, just like Arthur Smith had his smackdown in Atlanta last Sunday. But it was not meant to be.
The Broncos played poorly against the Seattle Seahawks and their 12th Man. They should be more formidable with their Orange Crush fans cheering them on this Sunday, and Sean Payton is too good of a coach to have his team unprepared.
This week, not only will the Steelers benefit from getting to custom design their offense for Justin Fields in advance, but their defensive counterparts will be able to do so as well.
Expect Fields to get the full “Pass it, I dare you” treatment, and hopefully, the Steelers coaches will be able to keep their game plan grounded despite this expectation.
Regardless…following the game’s conclusion, the Steelers and their fans will have a significantly clearer sense of who and what this team is this year.
Mile-high aspirations? Or a long fall off a recently climbed mountain?
Let’s kick this game off already. I see it rainin’ fire in the sky.
