The NFL postseason picture is starting to become clearer and clearer, and legitimate Super Bowl contenders are starting to separate themselves from mere playoff teams.
One of those teams happens to be the Pittsburgh Steelers as they continue to stack wins and look good doing so. Coming off a 27-14 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 14 in which they didn’t have standout receiver George Pickens due to a hamstring injury, the Steelers scored 27 points and moved the ball efficiently under quarterback Russell Wilson.
Defensively, the Steelers got after Browns QB Jameis Winston and forced him into mistakes while special teams continued to come up big, particularly in the kicking game.
Pittsburgh now enters a gauntlet of a stretch with three games in 11 days and might be without Pickens for a few weeks. But based on the presence of head coach Mike Tomlin, Wilson at quarterback, a defense that’s one of the best in the league and a special teams unit that has been outstanding all season, Kay Adams believes the Steelers have the “highest floor” in the NFL and should be viewed as a real threat to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC.
Appearing on the latest episode of her show “Up And Adams” Wednesday, Adams made the case for the Black and Gold as the team to beat in the NFL.
“I think Pittsburgh has the highest floor. That’s what I wanna get out there in the world. They have the highest floor in the NFL in all phases, [including] special teams. I mean, come on, that’s something that you sort of right home about here. You know what you’re getting,” Adams said while making the case for the Steelers as the best pick in the NFL from a Super Bowl-odds standpoint. “Take a look at this. The only squad in the AFC with a top-10 scoring offense and a top-five defense is Pittsburgh. It’s a team that forces turnovers at a higher rate than anyone. Also, they care about the ball. They’re not giving it up.
“A team with Super Bowl-winning head coach, Mike Tomlin, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback that I think people are pointing to as. ‘I don’t know if he can do it.’ He’s done it! There’s other guys you guys love that haven’t done it.”
Adams makes a great point about the Steelers moving forward. There’s a lot of questions about the Steelers and Wilson that still linger, especially when it comes to the playoffs. Most of the time, the questions are “Can you trust Russell Wilson?” or “Can Mike Tomlin get this team over the hump?”
They’re fair questions, but Adams reminds everyone that both Tomlin and Wilson have done it at the highest level in the NFL. Granted, that was a long time ago but it’s still noteworthy that both Tomlin and Wilson know how to get to the big game, and most importantly know how to win it.
Together, they might be able to make magic happen again.
Based on their play so far, the Steelers seem to have the proper ingredients to make that deep playoff run. The defense is playing at a high level and is taking the football away at a remarkable clip. Offensively, Pittsburgh can run the ball with the best of them, has a QB that generates explosive plays at a high rate, and on top of all that the Steelers simply don’t turn the football over, either.
Then there’s the special teams, which can create splash with blocked kicks and punts or with punt returns for scores.
That will matter come the playoffs.
So, they might not be the sexiest team in the NFL compared to the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles, but it’s certainly fair to say the Steelers have the highest floor based on what they’ve shown this season. And that floor might be enough for them to get to the big game once again.
