What was the Steelers’ high point of the 2020 season?

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to say it right off the bat. If you’re insisting on being a “Pessimistic Pete” or a “Negative Nancy,” this article is not for you and you may just want to wait until Part II comes out shortly about the lowest point of the Steelers’ season. But for now, realistic fans realize that there were still some great moments and numerous positives from the 2020 season when it came to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Of course, it’s generally better when these positive “high point” moments continue to occur at the end of the season and through the postseason. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the Steelers in 2020. But there was some pretty exciting and amazing moments as the season went on.

For this exercise, we’re going to ignore individual achievements and things of that nature and look strictly at the Steelers team as a whole. While a lot of these moments deal with the conclusion of a game, there is at least one which is a snapshot within a game which is offered as a choice.

Here are your top five choices for the high point of the Steelers 2020 season:

The 38-7 win over the Browns in Week 6

The 4-0 Steelers came into Week 6 hosting their fourth-straight home game due to the shuffling of the schedule two weeks prior. With the 4-1 Cleveland Browns coming to town and starting to get some notoriety around the NFL, it was supposed to be the Steelers first true test to their legitimacy in 2020.

Instead, the Steelers offered a complete beat down of the Browns. Scoring a field go on their opening possession, the Steelers went up to scores on the Browns’ third offensive play of the game as Minkah Fitzpatrick picked off Baker Mayfield and returned it 33 yards for the touchdown. The Steelers jumped out to a 24–7 halftime lead and added two more touchdowns in the second half to roll to the largest margin of victory they had in 2020.

The 24-7 halftime lead in Tennessee in Week 7

I chose the halftime score of this game as I remember this as an amazing moment of the season. It was a matchup of undefeated teams which was supposed to happen three weeks earlier, and the Steelers came out swinging and jumped all over the Tennessee Titans. Unlike the previous week against the Browns, the Titans fought their way back into the game and was a missed field goal away from going to overtime. But seeing the Steelers completely dominate the Titans for the first 30 minutes of the game in their stadium gave even more legitimacy to the start of their season.

The 28-24 come-from behind win over the Ravens in Week 8

Do Steelers’ fans remember how they felt after this game halfway through the 2020 season? The Steelers were coming off a hard-fought narrow victory in Tennessee and had to travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens coming off of their bye week. Trailing 17-7 at halftime, and the Steelers only touchdown being Robert Spillane’s 33-yard interception return, the Steelers offense couldn’t get anything going.

Coming out of the half, the Steelers get a big completion to midfield JuJu Smith-Schuster only to not gain another yard and give the ball back to Baltimore less than a minute into the half. But the very next play turned everything around for the Steelers as Alex Highsmith intercepted Lamar Jackson and two plays later the Steelers were back in the game after the 18-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ebron. After taking the lead in the third quarter, the Ravens came back to jump ahead early in the fourth only for the Steelers to get the final score of the game midway through the final quarter. Taking down the 2019 AFC North champs in their building while moving to 7-0 on the season may have been the highlight of the 2020 Steelers.

Reaching the 10-game winning streak in Jacksonville

Open the Steelers started off 11-0, it was the 10th win of the season which still seemed to have the team giving confidence to Steelers’ Nation. After giving up a field goal on the opening drive, the Steelers defense held the Jacksonville Jaguars scoreless and to barely over 200 yards on the day as the Steelers win streak reached double digits. It was the calm before the storm which would see their next game rescheduled multiple times before finally getting back to their season.

The 28-24 come-from behind win over the Colts in Week 16

It was the same final score exactly twice as long into the season when the Steelers locked up the AFC North title in dramatic fashion as they came from behind to defeat the Indianapolis Colts at Heinz Field. Down 21-7 at half time, the Steelers gave up a field goal to start the third quarter. Fortunately, this was the last points the defense would surrender on the day as Ben Roethlisberger threw for three touchdowns in less than 11 minutes of clock time as the Steelers secured their 12th victory of the season.

So there are the five nominations of the high point of the Steelers 2020 season. While there were many frustrating moments, especially to finish out the year, looking back at these nominees help me to remember that the Steelers did do some great things in 2020.

For all those “Debbie Downers” who still managed to get through this experience even though they only want to think about all the negatives of last season, your time is coming soon so keep a lookout for the upcoming article on the low points of the season. But for now, make sure you cast your vote in the poll and leave any thoughts in the comments below.