A good football team is one that is capable in all three phases of the game. Offense, defense, and the oft-overlooked special teams. Having one weak link out of the three can derail the rest of the team on any given Sunday. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, they seem to be strong in all three phases, which makes them very dangerous to the rest of the NFL.
Chris Canty went through his weekly list of teams that are the biggest threat to the Kansas City Chiefs and had the Steelers at No. 4.
“It’s hard to ignore how explosive the offense has been since Russ [Wilson] has taken over. Forty-one first downs, five touchdowns, and 13 scoring drives in the last two games,” Canty said via ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. “And the Pittsburgh offense recorded consecutive games over 400 total yards for the first time since 2018. Defensively, the Steelers are a top-10 unit in yards and points, and their special teams unit is the best in football with three blocked kicks and a punt return for a touchdown.”
The offense is still lagging behind in total yards in 19th place with 328.1 yards per game, but Russell Wilson is rapidly turning that around with one of the best offenses in the league over Weeks 7 and 8. They are slightly better in scoring offense with 23.4 points per game, good for the 13th most in the league.
On defense, the Steelers are ninth in yards per game allowed with 310.3 and second in scoring defense with 14.9 points per game.
There is no great way to measure special teams, but three blocked kicks and punts and a return touchdown puts them right near the top of the league in splash. Not to mention having Chris Boswell, who just won AFC’s Special Teams Player of the Month for October.
“I’m gonna say it this way, and this is the ultimate compliment — any one of those phases can win them a football game against any opponent,” Canty said. “They are a quintessential football team.”
Other than the Chiefs and maybe the Buffalo Bills, the rest of the AFC contenders have a major flaw. The Baltimore Ravens’ defense is highly suspect, for example. The Steelers are uniquely positioned to generate a spark at any point of a football game. Whether that is a T.J. Watt strip-sack, a Russell Wilson moon ball for an explosive passing play, or a blocked punt on special teams, they are a threat at literally any given moment of a game.
