Home Steelers 2015 Season Are the Steelers Really “The Team No One Wants to Play?”

Are the Steelers Really “The Team No One Wants to Play?”

by Steeldad

As I typically do on a weekday morning I turned on ESPN’s ‘Mike and Mike’ at 6am and on this particular day I was greeted with both Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic praising our Pittsburgh Steelers as the one team “no one wants to play” in the playoffs. Greenie went so far as to declare that he thinks the Steelers will win in Cincinnati and will then go to Denver and beat the Broncos.

While I love the forward thinking and positive attention paid to the Steelers, the realist in me has to ask, “How well do these guys really know the Steelers?”

Since their second half surge at home against Denver, the Steelers really haven’t played all that well. The running game has been very inconsistent and Ben Roethlisberger will be the first to tell you the passing game hasn’t been as crisp as it could be. Now with DeAngelo Williams less than 100% and perhaps not even available Saturday night, this “team that no one wants to play” doesn’t look so daunting.

I know… I haven’t even mentioned the defense yet. This is a unit that finished as the 21st ranked defense in the league. Against the rush they finished a very respectable fifth and against the pass? They finished 30th. Again I ask these national experts, have you seen this team as much as we have? A week after giving up a career high in passing yards to Ryan Mallett, they gave up  240 to Austin Davis.

Granted, the 240 looks a lot better especially when you factor in the seven sacks but if the defense we saw in Baltimore shows up even A.J. McCarron will have a field day.

The Steelers are the flavor of the month for sports writers right now because of the “explosive offense.” Another example of this is from Andy Benoit of Peter King’s MMQB. He calls the Steelers the team “no one wants to play” but not just because of the offense but also because of a “creative defense.” Former Steelers’ writer and ESPN guru John Clayton is calling the Steelers “the most dangerous team in the AFC.”

So again I ask, what have these people been watching?I know I sound down on the team but they just haven’t shown me much the last two weeks. Don’t be fooled by that final score Sunday in Cleveland either. That game was much closer than most thought it would be and I guarantee you that includes many players.

The Steelers are more than capable of romping their way through the AFC Playoffs by scoring 30 points plus per game and forcing opposing offenses into field goals and turnovers but I’m just not buying they can do it consistently right now. The fact they are suddenly the national media’s darling, tells you all need to know about just how much they actually pay attention.

“The team no one wants to play” better show up on Saturday because if the one of the recent two weeks does it will one and down.

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3 comments

Vittorio January 5, 2016 - 3:01 am

Are the Steelers really the team no one wants to face in the playoffs No not necessarily but I give them a shot just as I would any year they make the playoffs. Yes the have issues but I may have a way to quell the issues. Use more of Wheaton and Miller in the passing game. Yes those 2 guys are not big plays threats but unlike Bryant both Wheaton and Miller don’t make mistakes in there route running. We know that AB needs at least 7-10 catches on Saturday but I think the most important thing for the Steelers is to just relax and play. There playing on the road so just relax and execute the gameplan to the best of there abilities. This won’t be easy but if the Steelers win on Saturday they have as a good a chance any other team in the AFC.

steeldad January 5, 2016 - 2:21 pm

Yes I agree they have just as good of a chance as anyone else in the AFC but I don’t think the media knows this team like we do. Can they get things clicking? Yup, but we just haven’t seen it recently.

SCB Steelers Quick Hitters for 1/5/16 - Steel City Blitz January 5, 2016 - 12:55 pm

[…] and that’s why I wrote what I did regarding all the hype about the Steelers being the “team to beat in the AFC Playoffs.” I call it like I see it, what can I […]

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