The Pittsburgh Steelers have their backs against the wall after dropping two games they should have won. What they do next will determine the fate of their season, and guys like Elandon Roberts know that. Fortunately for Steelers fans, he is confident they are built around players with the fortitude to respond to adversity. But they have to find that out and prove it this week.
“Now you’re gonna test the type of guys that we built this team with”, the Steelers linebacker said on the conveniently named Elandon Roberts Show on 93.7 The Fan yesterday. “The type of person that even myself is through adversity. How are you gonna react? Are you gonna start ducking the smoke or are you gonna get in that fire with us?”.
The Steelers, in the parlance of our times, want all the smoke, or something like that. You know a guy like Elandon Roberts is all about the smoke if you say his play on Sunday night. Or rather Monday morning for those on the east coast. And he believes he shares a locker room with like-minded players, confident they will respond.
“That’s what our team is all about. I think Mike [Tomlin]’s done a great job of building this type of team’, Roberts said. “That’s why he’s not and nobody in the building’s flinching. I’m excited to go in tomorrow and get back on the right [track] and get back around the guys and get this thing going and moving in the right direction”.
The Steelers started the season 3-0, largely coming out on top of low-scoring games. By then, they had the top-ranked scoring defense with the fewest yards allowed. The defense hasn’t held up its end the past two weeks, though, particularly last week against the Colts. On Sunday, it bent, bent, and then finally broke at 1 AM.
But Elandon Roberts did his best to break the Cowboys. He leaped over the line to strike RB Rico Dowdle, who fumbled the football. On his show, he expressed great regret that they could not recover the ball, but the Steelers must move on.
Up next for the Steelers is the Las Vegas Raiders. While they are trying to decide who their quarterback is, the Steelers have already lost to a backup. On paper, they should be able to handle a Raiders team that might not even play WR Davante Adams. Maybe Adams will even end up flying to Pittsburgh by the end of that game.
But the response starts in earnest today when they take the field again. The Steelers have fallen short of their expectations the past two weeks, and now they are licking their wounds. But nobody will be feeling sorry for them out in Las Vegas, so they better come correct and stand on business and whatever else young people say.
