Interesting but bad. That’s how Colin Cowherd saw the 2024 Chicago Bears. And that’s how he sees the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers. Offering an early outlook on what Steelers fans could be in store for this fall, Cowherd thinks Pittsburgh will have a lot of bark but not much bite.
“Every year there’s a team that’s really interesting but not really good,” Cowherd said Tuesday on FS1’s The Herd. “Last year, I thought the Chicago Bears were fascinating up until Thanksgiving, but not very good. I think Pittsburgh’s gonna be that team.”
The Bears drafted USC quarterback Caleb Williams first overall, inspiring hope Chicago could turn its fortunes around the way C.J. Stroud did for the Houston Texans the year before. Instead, the Bears won five games and cleaned house of their coaching staff, firing Matt Eberflus and landing top candidate Ben Johnson.
Chicago got off to a promising 4-2 start before bottoming out the rest of the way, losing 10-straight games before beating the Green Bay Packers’ backups in the finale. It’s hard to say when the Bears were ever “interesting.” Perhaps “infamous” is the better word, especially after their Thanksgiving clock management blunder against the Detroit Lions, failing to call timeout to set up a game-tying field goal.
If the Steelers’ season goes south, it’s hard to see how it’ll meet the “interesting” mark. The offense likely won’t be exciting, and the defense would probably show serious signs of aging. Aaron Rodgers, should be sign, would keep the team in the headlines but it would be the same tired discussions about his comments and future and legacy. But Cowherd admits he’ll be talking about it.
“I think Aaron will be interesting. I don’t think they’ll be a playoff team,” he said.
Colin Cowherd’s criticism of Pittsburgh is as predictable as it is repetitive. That’s not to say the Steelers are above reproach. There’s plenty to criticize. But the odds of the Steelers bottoming out just aren’t likely. Their worst-case scenario isn’t being “train wreck bad.” It’s just being boring. A low-scoring team losing low-scoring games.
Even the headlines of Rodgers and George Pickens isn’t especially compelling, and the 2024 Jets and Bears were “interesting” because of gross mismanagement from head coach and front office, two non-issues in Pittsburgh.
Cowherd’s been known to flip flop his predictions so by August, he could be predicting Pittsburgh as a 10-win playoff contender.
