Despite recent appearances, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a good team, or at least have the makings of one. That is the takeaway from former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden. The only problem is they are a good team with no margin for error, which is what the last two weeks demonstrated. They had a lot more error than margin.
“I feel like we have what it takes. But what we’re starting to realize is that we’re not good enough to shoot ourselves in our own foot and still run”, McFadden said of the state of the Steelers on 93.7 The Fan yesterday. “Some teams can do it. We’re not good enough to do that. So now what we have to do is be smart with the football. We can’t have bad turnovers, we can’t have bad penalties, we can’t have missed opportunities. Because we’re not good enough to overcome those said hurdles like some other teams might be in the AFC”.
Now, this isn’t exactly a shock to anybody reading. Part of the reason the Steelers were 10-3 is that they led the NFL in takeaways and turnover margin. Over the past three games, they have lacked the opportunistic aspect of their previous success. Of course, they were also without several other key aspects of success.
But is McFadden right that this is still a team that can compete with the best if it simply avoids beating itself? If we get the best of Russell Wilson, George Pickens, the offensive line, the running backs, the defense, and the special teams, can the Steelers go into Kansas City and beat the Chiefs?
Of course, at least in principle, any team can beat any other team on any given day. But we’re talking about statistical likelihoods here. How many games out of 100 would the Steelers win against the Chiefs or Bills or Lions right now? Even factoring in the elimination of self-inflicted wounds and playing a clean game, are they that type of team?
“If [the Steelers] play [their] best game, and [the Chiefs] play [their] best game, no question you have a fighting chance”, McFadden insisted. “But against Kansas City, Kansas City played their best game”, he added, and the Steelers did not.
Against the Chiefs, the Steelers turned the ball over twice while Kansas City protected the ball. The Chiefs went four-for-five inside the red zone, the Steelers one-for-four, including an interception. They took a season-high five sacks while recording none. They even negated a touchdown with a holding penalty.
The Steelers might be able to overcome such issues against the Browns, but certainly not against the Chiefs. Almost nobody would be able to, of course—only other teams on their level. I agree with McFadden that the Steelers are a talented team. I also agree that they can’t afford to make mistakes at all against the NFL’s best. However, I’m not sure how “fighting” their chances are even in a clean game.
