By: Morgan Urtso, @morganurtso
SteelerNation.com
It's Week 14, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are 11-2. If you had told me last year that this would be the case, I wouldn't have believed you. After splitting the 2019 season at 8-8 with a reindeer and a duck ringleading the steel circus, we wouldn't be going 11-2 in my wildest dreams, much less in actual reality. But, here we are; 11-2 is our actual reality. So why does it feel so. damn. bad?
I had planned for tonight's post to be a story on why the Steelers need to re-sign JuJu Smith-Schuster (yes, they still do, and yes, this story is still coming), but after tonight's brutal loss to the Buffalo Bills, I need to get something off my chest. So go ahead and brace yourselves for some hard truths up front. We had a good run to 11-0, but it's 2020, and none of us are new here - we already know everything hurts.
As it stands right now, this team does not win a single game in the NFL postseason. This may technically be an opinion, but it feels like a fact. We could chalk this up to the schedule changes that have favored every team but us, the Ravens and Titans inability to follow NFL-mandated Covid protocols, the theft of our mid-season bye (or a tangible bye altogether), the interminable injuries to a once elite defense, the cold-weather induced drops, the aging (and quite honestly lifeless and expiring) offensive line, the consistent personnel turnover, an absolutely inept Offensive Coordinator, horrendous officiating, poor coaching decisions in crucial moments, playing down to the opposition, the deterioration of a ground game, 3 games in 12 days, a complete lack of offensive chemistry, Ben Roethlisberger's age, elbow, knee, the virus itself.... but I know Mike Tomlin would call these excuses. And, in fact, they are.
That's a hard pill to swallow. But, it's one we must. Collectively.
In any team sport, accountability falls upon not a single player, but the sum of the parts - the whole. This is especially true in football. And it is especially true for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's easy to toss blame on any or all of the above contributors, but this is the Steel City, and it's not 2018. Who ride? WE ride.
We.
So it's with a little cautious optimism and a lot of familiarity with this team that I'm comfortable saying this: I don't believe the Steelers are the team that took the field tonight or last week. I don't believe that's who this team is at its core. I don't believe that's the sum of our parts. I believe this Steelers team is actually the one that throttled a good Browns squad and swept a tough Ravens team in a matchup that is never pretty, no matter how good either team is. I believe they're the team that went into opposing stadiums all season and found a way to win. As my father always taught me, that's what the best teams do. I believe we're that team that wasn't living in our fears. That's the real Pittsburgh Steelers.
As it ALSO stands right now, we have the number one overall defense in the NFL. Still. We have the most talented and promising group of young receivers in the NFL, with the highest ceiling and the most upside. Still. We have TJ f-ing Watt and Cameron f-ing Heyward and Minkah f-ing Fitzpatrick. Still. We are capitalizing on the most reckless move the Browns ever made in releasing Joe Haden. Still. We are #ConnerStrong. Still. We have the ultimate team guy and leader in number 19. Still. We have a head coach who has never, in 14 years, put up a losing season. Still.
And we have a perennial, once in a lifetime, first ballot Hall of Famer at quarterback. STILL. And possibly not for long. It's now or never, Steelers. Literally.
So yes, it's 2020 and the Pittsburgh Steelers are 11-2, and it hurts right now. At some point this team, collectively, has allowed the bad to outweigh the good. THAT alone is the problem; the biggest obstacle to the ultimate goal. The problem isn't actually any of the excuses we complain to each other about - that's just noise. We are our own biggest enemy at this point, and THAT, if you ask me, is controllable. And, well... you know what Mike Tomlin would say about controllables.
Weigh in in the comments: Can we control the controllables?
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