Through the first four weeks of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in first place of the AFC North. Not many people expected them to compete for the division crown, but they’re in the driver’s seat right now. However, some don’t believe that they’ll be able to keep this up. Former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson thinks the Steelers can compete in the AFC, though.
“They are a legit playoff team…” Johnson said recently on Jordan Schultz’s YouTube channel. “What do you expect from a 40-year-old quarterback, who’s coming off an Achilles injury from two years ago, who’s finally getting his legs underneath him. And he knows, just don’t screw it up. We’ve seen this with veteran older quarterbacks all the time. The great Tom Brady won the Super Bowl in Tampa, but that defense carried that team…
“This is kind of what you see in Aaron Rodgers. You go to Peyton Manning, the year they won the Super Bowl, he wasn’t even average… It was about the defense. If you can look and visualize Aaron Rodgers doing some of those same things Brady was able to do, and Manning was able to do, with a team like Pittsburgh, they’ve got an opportunity in a wide-open AFC.”
In their prime, Brady and Manning were two of the best players ever. While they both built legendary legacies with the teams that drafted them, they also both eventually joined other teams and won championships there, too. Rodgers is trying to follow in their footsteps with the Steelers this year.
However, Johnson might not be correct saying that Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers were carried by their defense. While that unit ranked in the top 10 that season, Brady also continued to be great. He finished that year with 4,633 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Brady was still one of the best quarterbacks in the league while he was with the Bucs.
At this point in his career, Rodgers is a little further from his prime than Brady was that year. However, the comparison to Manning might be more apt. In 2015, his last season, Manning won a Super Bowl, but he was a shell of his former self. In 10 games, he threw for 2,249 yards, nine touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos’ defense was one of the best ever that year.
Rodgers isn’t quite as washed up as Manning was, though. While he isn’t his MVP self, Rodgers has still displayed solid arm strength and decision making. He’s elevated the Steelers at times.
Could the Steelers follow the same formula as the Broncos and Buccaneers? It’s possible, but their defense needs to show more. That group had a rough start to the year. They’ve picked things up recently, but they need to be more consistent if they actually want to be Super Bowl contenders.
Still, the Steelers look like they have a clear path to the playoffs. The rest of their division is hurting. The Cincinnati Bengals are going to be without Joe Burrow for most of the year. The Cleveland Browns are trying to rebuild. The Baltimore Ravens look like their biggest threat, but they’re currently 1-3 and dealing with a ton of injuries. If the Steelers play their cards right, they could have a shot at a championship.
