Over the next several weeks, I will be ranking the Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 games from 16 down to 1. Of course, they played 17 games and we all know that the playoff game against the Cleveland Browns would be listed at #17. We are going to leave that out and simply stick to the regular season.
There were definitely highs and lows to the Steelers 2020 campaign. Starting 11-0 left many excited for what could possibly be a Steelers Super Bowl run. This quickly turned to disappointment after the team finished the season going 1-4 over the final 5 games. This is where we begin the countdown in a game that began the nose dive that was the Steelers season.
#16. Week 13 vs. The Washington Football Team
An 11-0 Steelers team hosted the Washington Football Team which most analysts and fans of the National Football League had as an easy win for the Steelers. It started as such. The Steelers jumped out to a 14-0 lead early after two touchdown passes from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The WFT punted five times in the 1st half and the Steelers led 14-3 at the break.
This is what makes this game frustrating and the least enjoyable game of the entire season. At home against a team with four wins, the Steelers led by 11 at half time and managed to completely botch the second half. The WFT defense dominated the Steelers offense in the second half and the Steelers defense looked tired and helpless just a week after losing Bud Dupree for the season to an ACL injury.
It is still shocking to me that the Steelers had a 14-3 lead at a point and had 21 total rushing yards for the entire game. Roethlisberger threw the ball 53 times which, historically, has not been a good thing for the Steelers. After an early lead, there was no effort to establish a run game and control the clock. Benny Snell Jr. managed to rush the ball eight times for only five yards. Yikes. To go along with abysmal rushing stats, JuJu Smith-Schuster averaged just four yards per reception catching eight passes for 28 yards. Double yikes.
It pains me to bring this game back up, but I am officially putting it in the past. The good news is it only goes up from here. This was the worst Steelers game of the regular season and the bad memories of some of these losses will turn to good ones once we get closer to the top 10.
Is this the last game you would want to rewatch, #SteelerNation or would you have another one ranked at #16? Let me know in the comments below!
