The Steelers remain an incredibly inconsistent football team

The Steelers continue to be who they thought they were, that is an incredibly inconsistent and frustrating football team to watch.

The latest installment was turned in on Thursday night, as Pittsburgh took on the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.

For nearly three quarters, we witnessed a performance similar to what Pittsburgh turned in nearly two weeks earlier in a 41-10 drubbing at the hands of the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. The Steelers looked uninspired. They looked unprepared. They looked ill-equipped to handle anything that Minnesota handed them on offense and defense.

Running back Dalvin Cook rushed for 205 yards on a very efficient 27 carries. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was effective, if not really, really good.

As for the offense? What can you say about a unit that never seems to be ready to score over the first three quarters of a football game? You talk about boring. You talk about predictable. I thought those reasons were why the last guy was sent packing and the new guy was given a promotion.

Anyway, seeing your team down 29-0 late in the third quarter of not only a primetime game but one of those dreaded Thursday Night Football primetime games, I wouldn’t have blamed you one bit for powering down in the name of restorative sleep.

If you did, you missed an epic comeback. Just how epic? So epic, rookie Pat Freiermuth had the touchdown in his hands that would have allowed the Steelers to go for two to try and tie the game with zero seconds left. Unfortunately, Freiermuth didn’t have the touchdown long enough, and Pittsburgh fell, 36-28, to drop to 6-6-1 on the year.

But, hey, at least they gave it the old college try and showed a lot of heart by nearly coming all the way back, right?

Forgive me, but I’m not feeling all of that at the moment. I saw that story take place the last time the Steelers played in primetime when they almost came back from 17 points down to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football.

Nearing mid-December, and with the 2021 campaign quickly winding down, I was hoping to see the Steelers actually complete an epic comeback this time. Like quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said, there are no moral victories. That’s especially the case this time of year when the playoffs are still within reach.

Yes, I know, the Steelers are dealing with injuries. I also know they’re a young team. And, of course, I realize that they’re incredibly old at quarterback.

It doesn’t change things for me, though. The Steelers are a hard team to watch. Why? Because inconsistency doesn’t show up well on your television screen. It doesn’t keep you riveted to the tube (or whatever is in a flatscreen television).

You can’t get anywhere with inconsistency. One week, you’re singing a song after Pittsburgh comes back to defeat those hated Ravens. The next week, you’re crying the blues after a tough loss to the Vikings.

The worst part is, both games are equally frustrating to watch because of the in-game inconsistency.

Oh well, I’ve rambled on long enough.

The 6-6-1 Steelers have four games left. Judging by their inconsistency, I’m putting all of my money on them finishing 8-8-1.

The only consistent aspect of the 2021 Pittsburgh Steelers is their inconsistency.