Plenty of pundits and analysts were wrong about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Many had them hovering around .500, maybe capturing a Wild Card spot. Some believed they’d win only six games. Few – present company included – considered them AFC and Super Bowl contenders. Tony Dungy was one who had the foresight. And it’s even sweeter to know Rodney Harrison thought he was out of his mind.
On a Wednesday episode of Football Night in America, the show replayed a conversation between Dungy and Harrison in May after Dungy declared Pittsburgh Super Bowl contenders.
“A Super Bowl contender?” an exasperated Harrison said on May 24. “Coach, you are crawling up into the Russell Wilson and Justin Fields hype. Are you kidding me, a Super Bowl contender? Now, maybe 9-8 and vying for a playoff position. But Super Bowl contender? Make sure you guys record this because this is absolutely ridiculous.”
Ridiculous and completely correct. To Dungy’s credit, he saw what Wilson could bring the Steelers—the ability to elevate the offense behind a top-tier defense and solid coaching.
At the time, we wrote about Dungy’s comments and why he was prepared to offer such a bold take.
“I like Mike Tomlin and what he brings,” Dungy said then. “They have that belief. They always have that… if Russell can win one or two more games for them, I think they’ll be in good shape.”
Pittsburgh’s scoring offense is now average, a big achievement for a team toiling in the 20s the three previous seasons. And they’re No. 2 in scoring defense, only behind the Los Angeles Chargers. Combine that with football’s top kicker and a good coaching staff, and you get an 8-2 record that has the Steelers vying for the No. 1 seed.
Fast forward to today, and Harrison is eating crow.
“I do like the moves that [Mike Tomlin’s] making,” Harrison said today. “I think he does a great job of really encouraging those guys. And I love the way this defense is flying around playing.”
Pittsburgh still has a long way to go. They couldn’t rest on their laurels of beating Baltimore, immediately gearing up for the Cleveland Browns on a short week. Pittsburgh will battle the Cleveland crowd and the elements for what could be a tight game. After that, there are two more games against the AFC North, followed by road games against the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens.
The road only gets tougher from here, and the Steelers will be tested. Eventually, they’ll stumble, and some will consider them pretenders. Dungy’s unlikely to be in that camp. We’ll see if Harrison trusts him this time.
