The Steelers are in crunch time for another Super Bowl and with the season approaching the team will be put to the test come September. It’s no secret that Pittsburgh has faced many obstacles while chasing that seventh Lombardi trophy, but the question is, can the team fight through them and bring another ring back to Pittsburgh this season?
Kevin Boilard was joined by Bryan DeArdo on 247Sports’ Steel Conversation and was asked in his opinion, what three things were that would keep Pittsburgh away from another Super Bowl win. I bet most of Steeler Nation could point out his number one reason, an obvious one.
Two words. Ryan Shazier. DeArdo's top concern was the loss of Shazier which doesn’t come as a surprise. The Steelers decided not to draft that inside linebacker position during the draft. But instead, I think the hope is that Terrell Edmunds will be able to cover the hole. But like we’ve said a million times before, can anyone really do the job that Shazier did? There will certainly be a lot of movement within the position to find the right match.
The second obstacle would be the defense in general, which speaks for itself. The defense has seen so many ups and downs that we don’t really know what to expect. Just like DeArdo said, the Steelers were ranked within the top 5 in most defensive categories but also got absolutely ran over against Jacksonville last season. That had to have been one of the hardest games for Steeler Nation to watch last season, being so close to the Super Bowl, but it showed the inconsistency of the defense.
Of course, the last obstacle was Tom Brady and the Patriots, but aren’t they always? The Steelers had them in the palm of their hands during the infamous game with Jesse James’ controversial catch. The Steelers would have undoubtedly beat the Patriots but the odds weren’t in their favor. This season, DeArdo argued that they need to give themselves the biggest advantage the possibly can. And that would be home field advantage. The Steelers need to pick up the number one seed and be as consistent as possible all season. This seems like a very obvious statement, but if it was, the Steelers would have had the seventh Lombardi trophy already.
There will be more obstacles on the way down the line once the season starts but those are three that can’t be overlooked. Once the season starts we’ll get a better look at just how consistent the team is going to be on this run to the stairway to seven.
