By: Matt Papiernik, @Matt_Papiernik on Twitter
SteelerNation.com
Sheesh. What a rough four weeks. The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the middle of one of their worst stretches in recent memory. First squeaking by a depleted Baltimore Ravens team, followed by a perfect season ending loss to the Washington Redskins, then a rough loss to the Buffalo Bills, and lastly an embarrassing loss to the AFC North basement dwellers, the Cincinnati Bengals.
Needless to say, it hasn't been pretty the past four weeks.
However, there is a silver lining. Okay, maybe a bronze lining, but there aren't many positives right now.
The lone bright spot is that the Steelers are now being written off as a team that won't be competing for the Super Bowl around the league. Hell, some are even saying they are lucky if they get a win in the playoffs.
If there is one thing that usually bodes well for the Steelers, it's being underdogs and flying under the radar. When the Steelers are being talked about and making headlines, it always seems they end up breaking our hearts or underachieving.
Now, this isn't to say that the Steelers aren't in trouble and have some major issues they need to fix. They definitely do. But the extra attention that they were getting being 11-0 that has shifted to other teams, isn't a bad thing.
There are also some rays of sunshine peaking through the clouds. In the second half of the game this past week against the Bengals, the Steelers offense appeared to come alive. They managed to pick up 215 yards of total offense while putting 17 points on the score board. If they did that across the entire game, that would be 430 yards of offense and 34 points.
In case you were wondering, both of those marks would be the best in the league if put towards a full season.
Now, that isn't saying that their offensive woes are solved, but it is something they can build upon over the next two weeks before the postseason.
Also, they should be getting some key pieces back soon as well. Robert Spillane and Vince Williams should be back for the post season. Williams should be able to be activated this week from the Covid-19 Reserve list, and Spillane is able to be activated next week after spending three weeks on the IR list. Both of these pieces should greatly help their defense, more specifically their run defense which struggled at times against the Bengals.
Another key piece that should be back sooner than later is Kevin Dotson. Dotson is struggling with a shoulder injury, but early indications is he is on the path to playing this week. The Steelers rotated guards for a good portion of the game this past week, so having some consistency up front should help the Steelers build on a running game that found some life against the Bengals.
It isn't all sunshine and rainbows moving forward, but the Steelers entering underdog territory, paired with some positive momentum on offense, and getting some key players back from injury are all things that should help them turn things around. After all, the goal is to win the Super Bowl, not impress people in the regular season.
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