This is a very delicate time of year on the calendar for Steelers fans. We are in that period when we were barely able to overcome the shock of January’s annual indignity suffered by the team.
We are far enough away from any damage we suffer, seeing the deductible removed from containment.
That empty and idle space between the end of the game and the free will when we convinced ourselves to think: “Last year was not as bad as we thought. The club is just a few adjustments from another Super Bowl race! “
At this time of year, Pittsburgh football fans traditionally regurgitate a long list of Steelers fallacies. We simply talk about things about the organization because we want them to be true, whether they are or not. Beliefs about the team based on misconceptions or inappropriate arguments.
You know, things like …
• “It’s a Super Bowl team if Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t get hurt.”
• “They were only a few moves away in 2018.”
• “Things would have been different if the referees hadn’t broken Jesse James’s connection.”
• “They just had some serious injuries.”
If my Twitter feed and my email are indications, they look denser than ever in 2021. The responses I’m getting are 180 degrees. Two months ago, I felt that most readers wanted to kick everyone out of the city.
Now, people want to know why I no longer believe in the Steelers’ chances in the AFC playoffs.
Here are some of those “fallacies” that are gaining momentum, as I feel that many are talking to themselves about false optimism for 2021.
The Steelers 11-0 were the real Steelers: And, by extension, the 1-5 finish for the 2020 season was “just a drop”.
Suddenly, this became the most common point of convergence within the fan base. However, there are three problems with this narrative.
First, the way the team finished is much more an indication of the “real Steelers” than how it started, because it is clear that the opposing coaches needed about 10 weeks to find out what exactly the Steelers were doing in the attack.
Specifically, what they were hiding. As well as a total lack of faith in the running game and the inability of the offensive line, the receivers and Roethlisberger forged an intermediate passing game that took more than 2.2 seconds to develop.
Second, if you lose to Washington, Cincinnati Bengals and a devastated playoffs Cleveland Browns edition, then what you were at the end of the season is very real.
And third, if the Steelers 11-0 were the “real Steelers”, how can you feel confident that they will be as good as in 2021, when they will lose their best receiver, the rusher, maybe three initial attackers, the external linebacker holders , at least a cornerback and maybe the nose tackle?
If that 11-0 team was really that good, kid, it’s missing a lot of what made it so good in the first place. Am I right?
Alex Highsmith showed something last year: Same? What did he show, exactly? How did this matter get absorbed so quickly in Pittsburgh?
At Highsmith, I saw a smart guy. Stable. Mature. A player who was not impressed as a novice. I saw a guy who looks like he will be decent someday.
I potentially saw Arthur Moats or maybe Clark Haggans.
But I didn’t see the capacity for 19.5 sacks in 26 games, as I saw from Bud Dupree before the knee injury probably ended his career at Steelers.
What I saw was a bag in six matches. I saw a solo tackle in the playoff defeat. So, let’s hit the brakes to deliver the job to Highsmith full time and expect a lot of impact.
Things will be different when Devin Bush comes back from injury: You sure? Because I saw a defense quickly erode without Dupree, while I saw one that surfaced with Robert Spillane replacing Bush.
In fact, I saw six consecutive victories without Bush. I saw a defense go 1-5 after Dupree left the equation.
It’s funny how there is a belief in Pittsburgh that Bush is going to come back from his ACL injury and be okay, but Dupree is not going to leave wherever he goes free because of his knee injury.
Hmm. Wow. I wonder why this is the case?
The offensive line will see addition by subtraction: This is not entirely wrong.
Age seemed to reach Alejandro Villanueva and Maurkice Pouncey. And Matt Feiler’s move was stupid from the minute it was tried.
So, if all these guys leave, it may not be the worst result of all. But whoever replaces them must also be part of the conversation.
I feel good with Kevin Dotson on the left guard. Perhaps David DeCastro will return healthy in 2021 on the right guard. But opening day tackles could be Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner coming out of knee surgery. Or a novice recruitment choice on the one hand.
The center may be an unknown newcomer, JC Hassenauer or BJ Finney – who has just been eliminated in Seattle and Cincinnati.
Part of the “addition by subtraction” is who the team adds to replace who is being subtracted. And if that is roughly the offensive line of the first day, I still have major concerns about the unit.
Steelers always find a way: In the past 10 years, we’ve seen four seasons when Mike Tomlin’s teams lost the playoffs and four years when they lost their first playoff game.
In their last three playoff games – all defeats – they have added 129 points. And in their last three seasons, they went from 11-0 to 12-5 (counting the playoff loss to Cleveland), 7-2-1 to lose the playoffs and 8-5 to lose the playoffs.
So if the Steelers always “find a way”, I wonder where that “path” is leading.
And I wonder that in 2021 more than ever.
Tim Benz is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be posted again. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.
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Sports | Steelers / NFL | Breakfast with Benz