It is probably too early to get carried away with delusions of grandeur about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl chances after just eight games. It was just four years ago that the Steelers started 11-0, and they didn’t even end up winning a playoff game. But that doesn’t stop the television personalities from discussing such topics at the midway point of the season.
It wasn’t that many weeks ago that ESPN’s Chris Canty was calling the Steelers’ defense “frauds” after one of the team’s two losses. Now his opinions have swung all the way back in the other direction, and he is thinking about the idea of the Steelers adding a seventh Lombardi Trophy to their collection.
“I think the Steelers are a good football team. I mean, they have a plus-68 point differential, which is the second best in the conference behind the Buffalo Bills. They’re really good on defense and special teams and their offense, even though it’s a work in progress, it’s starting to come around with Russell Wilson at the helm,” Canty said this morning via ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. “They had back-to-back games where the offense had north of 400 total yards. First time they’ve had that since 2018. So I mean, they’re trending in the right direction in terms of what you want it to look like. And I’m curious to see what the passing game now turns into when you’ve got Mike Williams opposite George Pickens.
“So I think it’s only up for the Pittsburgh Steelers. There is a legit chance that they have of contending for a Super Bowl in the AFC.”
That is quite the turnaround from a month ago when he was very down on the Steelers, but their play has left very little doubt over that time. As Canty mentioned, the offense is starting to round into form. If you look at the two weeks that Wilson was starting in isolation, the Steelers were tied for the sixth-most yards per play in the league, just shy of 6.5. If the offense can be a top-10 unit over the second half of the season, then the Steelers are very obviously a contender and threat to any team.
We can probably expect a lot more takes like this if the 6-2 Steelers manage to knock off the 7-2 Washington Commanders Sunday on the road.
