The AFC North is collapsing all around the Pittsburgh Steelers. But don’t try to bring that up around DeShon Elliott. That means nothing to him this early in the season.
“Bro, I don’t give a fuck about Baltimore,” Elliott said in a clip from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko after their win over the Cleveland Browns. “It’s still early in the season. We gotta handle our games. You know, one game at a time. One day at a time. Last year we were what, 8-2 at one point in time? We started shitting the bed.
“We gotta just keep stacking these wins. And whatever happens at the end of the season, whether we’re AFC North champions or whatever, we’re just trying to win playoff games.”
This is exactly the mindset that every player in that locker room needs to have. Anybody who was on the team last year knows that they had over an 80 percent chance to win the division at one point until they lost five straight games to end the regular season with another one-and-done playoff appearance.
It’s very likely that the entire AFC North will be 0-2 over the last two weeks (pending Cincinnati) while the Steelers are 1-0, but that shouldn’t matter. There is nothing to gain from resting on laurels, and complacency will get them nowhere.
If the Steelers want to achieve their ultimate goals, they aren’t just competing against the AFC North. They are competing against the best in both conferences. Most importantly they are competing against themselves.
DeShon Elliott doesn’t care who’s collapsing around him — and he’s right. The Steelers’ fight isn’t about the standings or the Ravens’ struggles. It’s about proving they’ve learned from last year’s collapse. If they keep that same focus Elliott preaches, they won’t just outlast the AFC North — they’ll be ready for anyone beyond it.
