FanPost

The Steelers Already Got Better This Week


To begin with, let me say I'm not at all confident that the Steelers will beat the Bucs tonight. With both CB's banged up and nobody who can cover TE's against a team that is riding high with a slew of dangerous receivers this looks very much like a potential loss that could leave the Steelers winless in their first 3 games. And I'm not panicking.

Obviously, it's not a great start to the season, and on paper at least the Browns game and the Bucs game were ones we would've counted as wins before actual football started happening. Nevertheless, it's not as bad as it sounds, especially when you look at it in context.

1. Maybe you didn't notice because you don't live in Kansas City, but the Chiefs had 35 points at halftime against the 49'ers Sunday. Maybe our defense isn't the worst defense in Steelers history; maybe the Chiefs offense is just really good. Before embarrassing the Steelers last week, they dropped 38 on the Chargers in San Diego without even using Kelce. Mahomes will eventually hit a rough spot like all young QB's, even Peyton Manning did, but the Steelers are by no means the last defense the Chiefs will make look foolish this year.

2. The Browns won this week. Yeah, it was just the Jets, but remember last week the Saints needed a game winning FG with 30 seconds on the clock to nab the victory. Their new strategy of building through FA seems to have paid dividends and made them no longer a push over guaranteed victory for any opponent. That tie isn't looking so bad now.

3. The Patriots have now lost two in a row. They've lost both games by more than 10 points after beating Houston by only 7. That's good news for the Steelers when it comes to playoff seeding, but also just shows that good teams stumble sometimes.

There's a lot of football left to play, and the Steelers are still a good team even without good results in their first two games. It would do a lot for the fans and even the Steelers locker room to grab a win in Tampa, and they're capable of doing so. Even if they lose, though, it's not the end of the world.

The opinions shared here are not those of the editorial staff of Behind the Steel Curtain or SB Nation. These posts are not approved in any way by the editorial staff of this web site.