Following big wins over the Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens in back-to-back weeks, many were starting to view the Pittsburgh Steelers as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. A lot of wind was taken out of those sails with their loss the Cleveland Browns last Thursday night in front of a national TV audience.
The Browns were 2-8 entering the game, playing for nothing but pride against a division opponent. Domonique Foxworth called the Steelers his biggest loser of the week.
“It’s gotta be the Steelers,” Foxworth said via ESPN’s Get Up this morning. “They went and gave up on Thursday a loss to the Browns. It was a fun game to watch for everybody but Pittsburgh Steelers fans. They knocked off the Ravens the prior week and we started to talk about them as legitimate contenders and then they get this chance to prove it again on Thursday night in front of everyone. And they give it up to a team that we feel like is not a legitimate contender.
“It’s concerning for the Steelers going forward.”
As it usually the case with these knee-jerk television narratives, the Steelers were probably never quite to the level of a legitimate contender the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs or Detroit Lions. And I also don’t think it’s time to panic following their loss to the Browns.
The Ravens lost a month ago to this same Browns team with way less excuses to be made less. It wasn’t snowing in that game and it wasn’t on Thursday Night Football with very little time to prepare. Obviously the Steelers should have been able to overcome those obstacles, and the Browns had to deal with the same conditions, but it was the perfect recipe for a letdown after two big wins.
There is a reason that it’s difficult to string together long winning streaks in the NFL. It would have been six-straight wins for the Steelers, and that is a pretty rare feat. The Browns loss is currently overshadowing all else, but you can’t take the impressive win against the Ravens away from the Steelers the week prior. That Ravens team just put up 30 points on the No. 1-ranked Los Angeles Chargers defense after scoring just 16 against the Steelers.
If the Steelers start to stack losses in December as they have made a habit of doing in recent years, then it might be time to panic.
