Looking back to when a delay last disadvantaged the Steelers
The postponement of Sunday’s scheduled Steelers-Titans game isn’t the first, and likely not the last time that Pittsburgh’s football schedule will be disrupted.
Fans may have forgotten, but just a short while ago the Steelers were also put with their backs against the wall when a quick change disrupted their plans.
Rewinding to the 2016 season, the Steelers won the AFC North with an 11-5 record, smashing the Miami Dolphins in their Wild Card contest by a score of 30-12, before moving on to Kansas City to face the 12-4 Chiefs, who were coming off of a bye.
Four days prior to the Divisional Round matchup, which was scheduled for a Sunday 1:05 pm kickoff, the league announced a change – moving the game to primetime, making it the latest starting postseason game in NFL history with an 8:20 pm start.
Chiefs game with Steelers moved to Sunday night due to weather concerns. Start time at 7:20 PM. #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/7WCze9GOyd
— Nick Bender (@NickBenderKMBC) January 13, 2017
The intended move was in anticipation of an impending storm the previous night with that thought that fans may endanger their safety to attend the game.
According to the Sporting News article preceding the schedule change:
The Weather Channel was calling for freezing rain in Kansas City on Sunday — a 90 percent chance of precipitation and a high of 34 degrees. In other words, conditions were expected to be uncomfortable for players and miserable for fans in attendance at Arrowhead.
However, the quick reaction ended up being for naught, as the forecast never came to fruition. Saturday and Sunday’s combined precipitation never reached a fraction of a full inch over the weekend – an impending storm of rain, snow and ice never occurred as the 1:05 pm kickoff time came and went.
Spectators and the two teams missed out on a potential balmy high of 32, which is much “warmer” in the sunlight, as darkness fell and the temp leveled off. Had the game started as scheduled, the Steelers and Chiefs may have been alright, with what is described as a “wintry mix” and “light freezing drizzle” hitting the turf at Arrowhead Stadium for hours prior to the new time, making the surface slick but not unplayable.
The slick and cold conditions slowed what was a fast Steelers offense that season, with Le’Veon Bell having set a postseason rushing record against the Dolphins a week earlier and Antonio Brown continuing to terrorize opposing secondaries.
Yet, the Steelers, who were fourth in total touchdowns, seventh in total yards and tenth in overall points scored were held without a TD all game. Chris Boswell earned his reputation as a “Killer B” converting field goal attempts from 22, 38, 36, 45, 43, and 43 yards in the 18-16 road win.
That’s where the true disadvantage comes next.
For fans who remember Antonio Brown’s famous Facebook Live faux pas, head coach Mike Tomlin’s private speech became public as he denounced the head start their AFC Championship game opponent, the New England Patriots, had:
Let’s say very little moving forward. Let’s start our preparations… We spotted those a******* a day and a half. They played yesterday. Our game got moved to tonight. We gonna touch down at 4 o’clock in the f****** morning. So be it. We’ll be ready for that ass. But you ain’t gotta tell them we coming… Keep a low profile.
Tomlin, who felt embarrassed for his remarks going public and later apologized, wasn’t wrong. The Steelers hit the road to play the following Sunday’s 6:40 pm start and would be stymied – first with an injury to Le’Veon Bell (who played 11 of a possible 69 total offensive snaps) to the defense being completely gassed in the third quarter, as Pittsburgh fell by a final score of 36-17, with eight of the Steelers points coming in the final five minutes of the game.
The Steelers still wouldn’t make excuses for the loss, but the domino’s started to fall shortly thereafter. Signaling how disruptive even the slightest of changes to a team’s schedule could be longer-term.
Two days after the loss in New England, Ben Roethlisberger appeared on his weekly show on CBS Radio’s 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh with some off-cuff comments that sounded as if the Steelers franchise quarterback was contemplating retirement:
I don’t know. It’s one of those things, I was talking to my wife about it last night. I talked to my agent about it, coach about it… I’m gonna take this offseason to evaluate, to consider all options, to consider health and family and things like that and just kind of take some time away to evaluate next season — if there’s gonna be a next season. All those things. At that point in my career and my age I feel like that’s the prudent and smart thing to do every year.
The in-game injury of Bell also spurned further concerns about his long-term durability within a season, as the 2016 playoff games were his first postseason snaps with the Steelers, who drafted him in 2013. Bell would fail to sign a contract extension, or his franchise tender, sitting out all of the offseason workouts and training camp up until Week 1 of the 2017 season. He would never sign his franchise tag at all in 2018.
While one could argue the signficance of what appeared to be such a slight change, historically it appeared to impact a potential Steelers Super Bowl appearance and set their team on a tear to prove everyone wrong the following season.
A postponed game against Tennessee, with bye weeks moving around not only for the Steelers and Titans but potentially others, could also have the same detriment. Only time will tell.
