The Steelers are Super Bowl contenders again
Sometimes an NFL season can look a lot different halfway through than we thought it would. In the preseason, the Steelers were actually soaking up a lot of respect. With a healthy and potentially dominant offense, a defense that seemed to have improved, and a head coach that most everyone respects, it just seemed that Pittsburgh was one of the league’s more complete teams. Sports Illustrated picked the Steelers to the AFC title game, and tabbed TJ Watt and Mike Tomlin for Defensive Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively. Others, too, predicted real postseason success for this team.
Just a few weeks ago, however, some of those predictions were starting to look at little bit off. A narrow win over the Browns was not the best way to start the season, and after five weeks the Steelers were just 3-2, coming off a woeful shellacking at the hands of the improved, but still decidedly average Jaguars. That’s not to say Pittsburgh was fully pressing the panic button, but things weren’t looking good. Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions for the first time ever in that Jaguars game, and then uttered the immediately infamous quote “Maybe I don’t have it anymore” during post-game comments. It’s hard to imagine a much more discouraging moment for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
But now look where we are just two weeks later. The Steelers snapped the Chiefs’ unbeaten start in a tough 19-13 win and then throttled the Bengals, with Roethlisberger looking as good as he’s looked in years. And all of a sudden, Pittsburgh is firmly in the AFC North driver’s seat, with games against the 3-3 Lions and 2-5 Colts on the horizon.
Right now, there are three AFC teams that truly look worthy of potential Super Bowl runs: the Chiefs, Patriots, and Steelers.
The Chiefs started the season about as well as any team could, lighting the Patriots up for a 42-27 opening night win in Foxboro before rattling off four more wins in a row. But the defense has struggled a little bit of late, letting up 34 points to the Texans (albeit in a win) and 31 to the Raiders in a Week 7 loss. Kareem Hunt, while still putting up historic stats for a rookie running back, has come down to Earth a little since his absolutely astounding first few weeks. This is still a dynamic and talented team, but one trending ever so slightly in the wrong direction.
The Patriots got off to a rocky start with the aforementioned Chiefs loss, and doubts started to settle in. Though some bookmakers and predictors expressed a lack of enthusiasm for the New England powerhouse heading into the season, the Pats were still given the top odds to win the Super Bowl across the board. Some were even talking about a potential undefeated season. By these measures, New England looks pretty vulnerable these days. But if we throw out preseason hyperbole, the Pats look like themselves, riding terrific offensive performances to a 5-2 record so far.
While the Chiefs may be trending down and the Pats have been sort of hot and cold, however, the Steelers appear to be making a more logical progression and becoming a stronger team over time. One terrific game should not give Pittsburgh fans blind faith that Roethlisberger is “back,” the Martavis Bryant situation doesn’t seem to be getting better, and there are still tough patches on the schedule. But if the first month of the season brought doubts, the last few weeks have shifted things back to where we thought they’d be before the season.
The Steelers are a legitimate Super Bowl contender nearly halfway through the season, and ought to stay that way.
