Overreactions from Steelers Nation: Start of a new season
Welcome to my weekly edition of “Overreactions from Steelers Nation” a weekly column where I poke fun at fans, reporters, and so-called experts while trying to figure out if some of these hot takes are real – or just for attention.
If there’s ever a time for an overreaction it’s now. The Steelers finished third in the AFC North with a 10-7 record. That saw them finish seventh in the AFC and just edge into the playoffs. Sadly, they lost in the Wild Card round to the Buffalo Bills and that ended their season on a short note.
For others, the period from when the season ends is following the Super Bowl. That time, until the initial wave of free agency starts, is rife with speculation and rumors. The lead-up to the NFL Draft was also commonly referred to as “National Liars Month” by Hall of Famer Gil Brandt, as teams put out false information or fib about their intentions to land the best prospects.
It’s this period that will drive any sane person to the brink, as there are very few facts to go by. The situation gets worse as new media allows anyone to have a voice. That voice is used to meet quotas by driving “reports” of half-baked stories throughout the Internet.
Why is it this way? Because the NFL is the most popular sport in America. Even during its offseason, the NFL draws eyeballs to developing stories. And because there are no games to cover, stories must be told!
Fans are ready to gobble up any tidbit that will indicate their team is a Super Bowl contender this upcoming season. Steelers fans, despite having not witnessed a losing season since 2003, are right up there with the rest, hoping for any (perceived) positive news that will improve their team’s chances to contend for a Lombardi trophy.
Bookmakers aren’t too optimistic on the Steelers winning the Super Bowl in New Orleans next February. According to New Jersey’s betting websites and sportsbooks, there are 21 teams ahead of them in the current betting with the San Francisco 49ers the current favorites to win with the Kansas City Chiefs close behind them in the betting.
And that is what fuels fans: chasing those contenders, such as the Chiefs, and surpassing them for Super Bowl glory. However, what it takes to get from point A to point B isn’t a tried-and-true formula. Some franchises build their teams in different ways, either spending a load of money on pricey free agents or building up through the NFL Draft.
In the case of the former, spending tons of cash doesn’t always equate to success. In the past few years the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots both spent record amounts of money on free agents, only to fall short of the playoffs.
At least in the Jaguars’ defense, they climbed out of a miserable decade of multiple ten-loss seasons, and finally had a postseason appearance, but now that spending has put them into “cap hell” where they are releasing starters and have to fill those voids. For the Patriots, those voids are different, having moved on from legendary head coach Bill Belichick this offseason while also trying to fill the shoes of Tom Brady at quarterback: an endeavor that has taken several offseasons and is far from complete.
There are teams who have had long, miserable pasts of losing year after year, who do turn it around. Yet, for every Houston Texans turnaround story – drafting C.J. Stroud and changing their staff – there’s a New York Jets story where acquiring a future Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, and changing their coaches had little impact.
As for building through the draft, it’s this early offseason speculation that is more entertainment than news. Mock drafts were out before the playoffs began, which is silly because we don’t know the order of who is picking where.
Furthermore, without the NFL Combine to help evaluate talent, some of the prospects in these mock drafts end up being overvalued by the Internet community. There are plenty of instances where players “fell” in the draft after X (formerly Twitter) draft “experts” had “fallen” in love with their picks.
I’ve always found it a bit annoying that these mock drafts occur before free agency too. Take the Steelers, for example, who should be looking at adding a new starting center after releasing Mason Cole last month. Immediately the draft “experts” started lining up centers for Pittsburgh to select, but who knows if they’ll aim for their “top-rated” prospects.
Instead, there’s a good chance that the Steelers sign a free agent center and not draft one at all. (Though, my smart money is on them doing both: signing a free agent plus drafting someone too.)
This leads to fun discussion but all the while it causes too many overreactions among fans who don’t see it for the prediction model and entertainment “filler” of the offseason that these exercises are. Instead, without a doubt the Steelers are going to trade for Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields or sign soon-to-be free agent QB Russell Wilson.
They also get angered that the team doesn’t publicly mention these potential moves, as if GM Omar Khan would spill the beans and allow another team to swoop in on his shrewd moves. (Much like Khan did to the openly Broderick Jones loving Jets one year ago!)
The best we’re going to get right now is a mix of vague press conferences from folks such as Khan or head coach Mike Tomlin, broadly stating their goals and deflecting pointed questions. Out of this, you can read the tea leaves for what they are: generally there’s not many takeaways unless the brass comes straight out and says something. Otherwise, the “insiders” are usually quoting half-baked sources or hearsay that’s put on the market by sports agents to help their clients land better deals.
In the wake of it all, fans need to exercise patience and wait until the dust settles – and beyond the offseason madness, they also need to be patient and wait for the season to start, because too many offseason “paper champions” have been crowned in the past, only to see those aspirations fall short when the season comes to a close.
