- Joined
- Apr 7, 2014
- Messages
- 2,542
- Reaction score
- 4,985
- Points
- 93
The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to make at least one final run at the Super Bowl with a future Hall of Fame QB under center. Is it possible – let’s look at the top 5 reasons to be optimistic.
While many “experts” want to push hard on the 39-year-old QB with surgically repaired elbow narrative, double downing when comparing Ben Roethlisberger with former #1 overall picks Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow and going all in when bringing up the “former MVP” Lamar Jackson – it doesn’t stop the fact that the best QB in the division is still Big Ben.
Jackson was voted MVP for being a running QB and has never made a serious playoff run because running QBs can only get you so far. As the Baltimore Ravens face the reality of no longer having that rookie QB contract and luxury of extra cap is about to end, consider that approximately 20% of their cap is going to a QB that cannot throw outside the hashes. The Cleveland Browns aren’t even sold on Mayfield to even begin to talk contract and Burrow is coming off an injury that, unfortunately, may have already robbed him of being as good as he could have been.
Meanwhile, Big Ben took a pay cut and has done everything he humanly possibly could to carry the Steelers. Although I am not even convinced this is his last season, he’s proven time and time again that he’s an all-time great that can raise his game when he needs him to in order to win. The problem is in the rest of the team showing up: In his last two playoff games he’s thrown for nearly 1,000 yards and 9 TDs. What he needs is to have his defense step up and help!
While Roethlisberger is more than capable of throwing for upwards of 400 and 500-yard games, the Steelers have been and will be at their best when he is throwing for an average of around 270 yards, and he is getting a nice 110 yards from his RB. Even if the OL plays to the high end of their ability, it’s more likely than not that the RB is going to have to make plays to help them out and beat someone one-on-one. Najee Harris not only brings that ability, but he’ll be able to execute it from day one. While some pundits criticized the selection of Harris, the reality is that he was easily the best RB in the draft. RB has consistently proven to be the position that makes the biggest impact the quickest and Harris #22 will be called on a lot. Second round pick TE Pat Freiermuth is unlikely to come in and be the full-time starting TE, but it is likely he will be able to come in and help the OL by being a “6th offensive lineman.” His true impact will unlikely show up on the stat sheet, but in the ability to just seal an edge for an extra half second, which is all Harris will need.
While the Steelers lost one of the best edge rushers in OLB Bud Dupree to FA, they still have the best one in the NFL with T.J. Watt. And even before Watt was leading the NFL in sacks, the Steelers have been consistently getting to the QB better than any team in NFL history. They set two NFL records in sacks in 2020, leading the league in sacks for four consecutive seasons and have the longest streak (73) in NFL history of having at least 1 sack per game. Personnel have come and gone, but the core of Watt, Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt will once again have Devin Bush behind them as they aim for a 5th consecutive year of owning and pressuring the QB. Lest we forget, in case a QB throws one up for grabs, one Minkah Fitzpatrick has emerged as a legit DPOY candidate and a fleecing ballhawk.
JuJu Smith-Schuster may have started pushing a little too much on the social media button, he was wise enough to come back for one more run with Big Ben. Personally, I have never believed in the “#1 WR” narrative. It’s ridiculous and what more can you ask of a guy than what he has consistently delivered. His stat line wasn’t as good as that of Antonio Brown – who’s was then? Using that baseline, everyone is going to look less like a top WR. Just imagine that he put up those same numbers with the Ravens? He’d be considered All-Pro. Flanking him are Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool, who bring a plethora of big play ability with speed, quickness, size, and strength between them. Add in the fact they have a year of playing with Big Ben and they will only get better. Eric Ebron is one of the better receiving TE’s in the NFL, when he holds onto the ball. When you have a 4th WR as good as James Washington and he can’t get on the field, you have a problem that 30 other teams would like to have.
While the majority of the Steelers dynasty were starting to retire in the early 1980s, Terry Bradshaw was playing at an extraordinary level. He was just getting better as he led the NFL in TD passes in for a 2nd time in 1982, but an elbow injury and lack of coordination with the team had disastrous results. Ben Roethlisberger had just led the NFL in passing yards for a second time before hurting his elbow. The 1983 and 2020 Steelers had remarkable symmetry – holding the leagues best record through 11 games. The irony was the 1983 Steelers could not pass the ball at all, while the 2020 Steelers couldn’t run it.
The following year, the Steelers sought to improve the passing game, drafting eventual Rookie of the Year WR Louis Lipps with the #23 pick and tried to make do with an unremarkable QB duo of Mark Malone and David Woodley. The 2020 Steelers have overhauled their offensive line with unproven players and drafted RB Najee Harris with the #24 pick. In 1984, when few believed they could, the Steelers won the division and beat the defending champion Los Angeles Raiders, hung the only loss the 15-1 eventual champion San Francisco 49ers and advanced to the AFC Championship by beating the 13-3 Denver Broncos. One can only wonder if they had Terry Bradshaw for that one last run, could they maybe have…?
The 2021 Steelers are already being disregarded and overlooked. But getting players back healthy, if they stay that way, is it at all possible that they can take the step that seemed to be a Hall of Fame QB away from doing?
It’s intangible and cannot be quantified. Yet it lives and breathes throughout the team from the top-down. Every player feels it. Playing in front of 60,000+ fans swinging the Terrible Towel raises their game up. There is something about the organization that expects to win and plays to win, it has to the tune of winning more games since the merger than any team in the NFL. The lowest win total since 1970 has been 5 and that has only happened 2x. They haven’t had a losing season in nearly 2 decades. Anyone writing this team off before the season needs to have their head examined.
Please leave your thoughts or comments below.
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
#1 – Ben Roethlisberger
While many “experts” want to push hard on the 39-year-old QB with surgically repaired elbow narrative, double downing when comparing Ben Roethlisberger with former #1 overall picks Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow and going all in when bringing up the “former MVP” Lamar Jackson – it doesn’t stop the fact that the best QB in the division is still Big Ben.
Jackson was voted MVP for being a running QB and has never made a serious playoff run because running QBs can only get you so far. As the Baltimore Ravens face the reality of no longer having that rookie QB contract and luxury of extra cap is about to end, consider that approximately 20% of their cap is going to a QB that cannot throw outside the hashes. The Cleveland Browns aren’t even sold on Mayfield to even begin to talk contract and Burrow is coming off an injury that, unfortunately, may have already robbed him of being as good as he could have been.
Meanwhile, Big Ben took a pay cut and has done everything he humanly possibly could to carry the Steelers. Although I am not even convinced this is his last season, he’s proven time and time again that he’s an all-time great that can raise his game when he needs him to in order to win. The problem is in the rest of the team showing up: In his last two playoff games he’s thrown for nearly 1,000 yards and 9 TDs. What he needs is to have his defense step up and help!
#2 – Immediate integration of top two picks
While Roethlisberger is more than capable of throwing for upwards of 400 and 500-yard games, the Steelers have been and will be at their best when he is throwing for an average of around 270 yards, and he is getting a nice 110 yards from his RB. Even if the OL plays to the high end of their ability, it’s more likely than not that the RB is going to have to make plays to help them out and beat someone one-on-one. Najee Harris not only brings that ability, but he’ll be able to execute it from day one. While some pundits criticized the selection of Harris, the reality is that he was easily the best RB in the draft. RB has consistently proven to be the position that makes the biggest impact the quickest and Harris #22 will be called on a lot. Second round pick TE Pat Freiermuth is unlikely to come in and be the full-time starting TE, but it is likely he will be able to come in and help the OL by being a “6th offensive lineman.” His true impact will unlikely show up on the stat sheet, but in the ability to just seal an edge for an extra half second, which is all Harris will need.
#3 – Best pass rush in NFL
While the Steelers lost one of the best edge rushers in OLB Bud Dupree to FA, they still have the best one in the NFL with T.J. Watt. And even before Watt was leading the NFL in sacks, the Steelers have been consistently getting to the QB better than any team in NFL history. They set two NFL records in sacks in 2020, leading the league in sacks for four consecutive seasons and have the longest streak (73) in NFL history of having at least 1 sack per game. Personnel have come and gone, but the core of Watt, Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt will once again have Devin Bush behind them as they aim for a 5th consecutive year of owning and pressuring the QB. Lest we forget, in case a QB throws one up for grabs, one Minkah Fitzpatrick has emerged as a legit DPOY candidate and a fleecing ballhawk.
#4 – Best Wide Receiver core in the NFL
JuJu Smith-Schuster may have started pushing a little too much on the social media button, he was wise enough to come back for one more run with Big Ben. Personally, I have never believed in the “#1 WR” narrative. It’s ridiculous and what more can you ask of a guy than what he has consistently delivered. His stat line wasn’t as good as that of Antonio Brown – who’s was then? Using that baseline, everyone is going to look less like a top WR. Just imagine that he put up those same numbers with the Ravens? He’d be considered All-Pro. Flanking him are Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool, who bring a plethora of big play ability with speed, quickness, size, and strength between them. Add in the fact they have a year of playing with Big Ben and they will only get better. Eric Ebron is one of the better receiving TE’s in the NFL, when he holds onto the ball. When you have a 4th WR as good as James Washington and he can’t get on the field, you have a problem that 30 other teams would like to have.
#5 – It’s happened before – just one Big Ben difference
While the majority of the Steelers dynasty were starting to retire in the early 1980s, Terry Bradshaw was playing at an extraordinary level. He was just getting better as he led the NFL in TD passes in for a 2nd time in 1982, but an elbow injury and lack of coordination with the team had disastrous results. Ben Roethlisberger had just led the NFL in passing yards for a second time before hurting his elbow. The 1983 and 2020 Steelers had remarkable symmetry – holding the leagues best record through 11 games. The irony was the 1983 Steelers could not pass the ball at all, while the 2020 Steelers couldn’t run it.
The following year, the Steelers sought to improve the passing game, drafting eventual Rookie of the Year WR Louis Lipps with the #23 pick and tried to make do with an unremarkable QB duo of Mark Malone and David Woodley. The 2020 Steelers have overhauled their offensive line with unproven players and drafted RB Najee Harris with the #24 pick. In 1984, when few believed they could, the Steelers won the division and beat the defending champion Los Angeles Raiders, hung the only loss the 15-1 eventual champion San Francisco 49ers and advanced to the AFC Championship by beating the 13-3 Denver Broncos. One can only wonder if they had Terry Bradshaw for that one last run, could they maybe have…?
The 2021 Steelers are already being disregarded and overlooked. But getting players back healthy, if they stay that way, is it at all possible that they can take the step that seemed to be a Hall of Fame QB away from doing?
(Bonus) #6 – Steeler Nation
It’s intangible and cannot be quantified. Yet it lives and breathes throughout the team from the top-down. Every player feels it. Playing in front of 60,000+ fans swinging the Terrible Towel raises their game up. There is something about the organization that expects to win and plays to win, it has to the tune of winning more games since the merger than any team in the NFL. The lowest win total since 1970 has been 5 and that has only happened 2x. They haven’t had a losing season in nearly 2 decades. Anyone writing this team off before the season needs to have their head examined.
Please leave your thoughts or comments below.
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
