The Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-1 three weeks into the NFL season. While they’ve managed to win games, their team looks like it has serious flaws. Neither of their wins were easy, and they weren’t exactly facing great competition. The Steelers’ defense has looked bad, and their offense has been disjointed. This season might be more of the same for the Steelers, who haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season. Terry Bradshaw is already out on them as Super Bowl contenders.
“They’re not ever gonna fire Mike Tomlin,” Bradshaw said Monday via Yahoo Sports. “[But] they don’t have the team. It takes offense, defense, takes it all, takes coaching. Every time they get great players and they do really well, you had Antonio Brown, you had the running back that signed with the Jets [Le’Veon Bell].
“All these guys are on their way to the Hall of Fame, they’re playing so great for Pittsburgh. ‘I want my money.’ So they don’t get their money and they’re out of there. They’re always competitive, but they’re past being a contender. They’re not a contender, and they haven’t been in a while. They haven’t been a contender in five years.”
That’s a slightly different tune than Bradshaw sang after Week 1. Considering how the Steelers have looked over their last two games, though, it’s hard to fault him for being more pessimistic about them.
However, Bradshaw’s reasons for being out on the Steelers are a little more curious. He’s long been critical of Tomlin, and his comments echo much of the fan base. While Tomlin has made the Steelers a consistent winner, they’ve struggled to win in the postseason. Therefore, some people want the team to move on, thinking change could be good for the organization.
It’s debatable whether or not firing Tomlin would improve the Steelers. That’s a tricky situation to handle, but like Bradshaw says, as long he keeps winning, it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.
Also, Bradshaw is upset that the Steelers don’t pay talented players, but that isn’t really the case. Money wasn’t the issue with Brown, and based on how his career went after he left Pittsburgh, the Steelers didn’t make the wrong decision. Le’Veon Bell did leave the Steelers because of money, but like Brown, he didn’t do much of anything post-Pittsburgh.
Other players, like T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, have gotten paid by the Steelers. The team doesn’t often let talented homegrown players walk, and when it does, it usually isn’t without a reason.
Have the Steelers been Super Bowl contenders over the last five years? No. They’ve tried to be, but even during Ben Roethlisberger’s final years, they didn’t really make a serious championship push. There was hope that would change this year, but the Steelers have several weaknesses that could hold them back from reaching that level. Perhaps they could surprise people, though. There’s still a lot of the season left.
