The Pittsburgh Steelers came here to chew gum and win Super Bowls. And they’re all out of gum. The normally careful franchise has made splash move after splash move this season, the swap of FS Minkah Fitzpatrick for CB Jalen Ramsey and TE Jonnu Smith being the latest. All for a franchise tired of the same results of being bounced on Wild Card weekend.
“They have long been patient,” ESPN and beat writer Brooke Pryor said on Get Up Tuesday. “Drafting, developing. This team is out of patience. This is a team that is ready to win.”
Pittsburgh’s last postseason victory came in the 2016 Divisional Round over the Kansas City Chiefs before falling to – who else – the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. Since, the Steelers have lost five more playoff games, their six-straight defeats tied with the Miami Dolphins for the NFL’s longest-active postseason losing streak.
“You can say that they’re all-in, in trying to pursue a Super Bowl, but I look at this more in the context of they are all in trying to break that streak of losing playoff games…they’ve had all these one-and-dones and they’re tired of that.” Pryor said.
There’s no question the angst in the front office has been mounting and serving as the catalyst for radical change. But these moves suggest Pittsburgh is aiming for more than a Wild Card win but chance to go on a Super Bowl run. Maximizing the year the team has with QB Aaron Rodgers and attempting to win while DL Cam Heyward and EDGE T.J. Watt remain impact players.
Even under the belief Pittsburgh is a better team today than Friday, it’s hard to place the Steelers in Super Bowl contention. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Baltimore Ravens remain in a tier of their own. But Pittsburgh is counting on the postseason’s unpredictability working in their favor, any team able to beat any opponent in single-game elimination. On paper, the roster as a whole is better. Now, results must follow.
