This is a very delicate time of year on the calendar for Steelers fans. We’re in that period where we are barely getting over the shock of the annual January indignity endured by the team.
We are just far enough away from whatever hurt we suffered, seeing the franchise eliminated from contention.
That idle, empty space between the end of play and free agency when we talk ourselves into thinking, “Last year wasn’t as bad as we thought. The club is just a few tweaks away from another Super Bowl run!”
This time of year, Pittsburgh football fans traditionally regurgitate a long list of Steelers fallacies. Things about the organization we simply speak into existence because we want them to be true, whether they are or not. Beliefs about the team that are built on flawed notions or unsound arguments.
You know, things like …
• “That’s a Super Bowl team if Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t get hurt.”
• “They were just a few plays away in 2018.”
• “Things would’ve turned out differently if the refs didn’t screw up the Jesse James call.”
• “They just got a few bad breaks with injuries.”
If my Twitter feed and email are indications, it seems thicker than ever in 2021. The responses I’m getting have gone a full 180 degrees. Two months ago, I felt like most readers wanted to run everybody out of town.
Now, people want to know why I don’t have more faith in the Steelers’ chances in the AFC playoffs.
Here are some of those “fallacies” that are gaining steam as I feel many are talking themselves into some false optimism for 2021.
The 11-0 Steelers were the real Steelers: And, by extension, the 1-5 end to the 2020 season was “just a slump.”
This has suddenly become the most common rallying point within the fan base. There are three problems with this narrative, though.
First off, the way the team ended is far more of an indication of the “real Steelers” than how it began because it’s clear that opposing coaches needed about 10 weeks to figure out what exactly the Steelers were doing on offense.
Specifically, what they were hiding. Such as a complete lack of faith in the running game and the inability of the offensive line, receivers and Roethlisberger to forge an intermediate passing game that needed more than 2.2 seconds to develop.
Secondly, if you lose to Washington, the Cincinnati Bengals, and a covid-ravaged edition of the Cleveland Browns in the playoffs, then what you were at the end of the season is plenty real.
And third, if the 11-0 Steelers were the “real Steelers,” how can you feel confident they’ll be just as good in 2021 when they’ll be losing their top receiver, rusher, perhaps three starting offensive linemen, the starting outside linebacker, at least one cornerback and maybe the nose tackle?
If that 11-0 team was really that good, boy, it’s losing a lot of what made it that good in the first place. Am I right?
Alex Highsmith showed something last year: Really? What did he show, exactly? How has this talking point been so quickly absorbed in Pittsburgh?
In Highsmith, I saw a smart guy. Steady. Mature. A player who wasn’t overwhelmed as a rookie. I saw a guy who looks like he’ll be decent someday.
I saw potentially Arthur Moats or maybe Clark Haggans.
But I didn’t see the ability for 19.5 sacks in 26 games as I saw from Bud Dupree before that knee injury likely ended his Steelers career.
What I saw was one sack in six starts. I saw one solo tackle in the playoff loss. So let’s pump the brakes on handing Highsmith the job full time and expecting much impact.
Things will be different when Devin Bush comes back from injury: You sure? Because I saw a defense erode quickly without Dupree, whereas I saw one that stayed afloat with Robert Spillane substituting for Bush.
In fact, I saw six wins in a row 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 will come back from his ACL injury and be just fine, but Dupree won’t pan out wherever he goes in free agency because of his knee injury.
Hmm. Gee. I wonder why that’s the case?
The offensive line will see addition by subtraction: This one isn’t entirely wrong.
Age appeared to catch up with Alejandro Villanueva and Maurkice Pouncey. And the move of Matt Feiler was dumb from the minute it was attempted.
So if all those guys leave, it may not be the worst result ever. But who replaces them has to be part of the conversation, too.
I feel good about Kevin Dotson at left guard. Maybe David DeCastro comes back healthy in 2021 at right guard. But the opening day tackles could be Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner coming off knee surgery. Or a rookie draft choice on one side.
The center could be an unknown rookie, J.C. Hassenauer or B.J. Finney — who just washed out in both Seattle and Cincinnati.
Part of “addition by subtraction” is who the team adds to replace whoever is being subtracted. And if that is roughly the opening day offensive line, I still have significant concerns about the unit.
The Steelers always find a way: Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen four seasons where Mike Tomlin’s teams missed the playoffs and four years when they lost their first playoff game.
In their last three playoff games — all losses — they’ve allowed a combined 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 missing the playoffs, and 8-5 to missing the playoffs.
So if the Steelers always “find a way,” I’m wondering where that “way” is heading.
And I find myself wondering that in 2021 more than ever.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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