The Steelers' bye week was the best part of their season so far

The Pittsburgh Steelers just completed their mandatory bye week and are currently in preparations to kick off the second half (or is it still the first half?) of their 2022 regular season with a game against the New Orleans Saints at Acrisure Stadium this Sunday afternoon.

At 2-6, and with nine games remaining on the schedule, the Steelers are still searching to find the answers to the questions that have led to them being where they are right now.

The honest answer may be that they’re simply not good enough, but things are never that simple, not when it comes to a team, a town and a fan base that rarely wants to acknowledge or accept that there are no easy fixes to tough problems.

That’s fine, though, because it leads to constant speculation and topics to write about.

For example, Frank Reich, a person with a brilliant offensive mind and a decent history as an offensive coordinator, was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts on Monday. Steelers fans and the media, being who they are and all, immediately made it all about them and began to demand that Mike Tomlin pull a Brian Flores and impulsively offer Reich the plum job as OC in Pittsburgh.

It’s probably not going to happen, but it was an excellent topic to exhaust on Monday, and it will continue to be one we go back to between now and the time Matt Canada is finally fired as the Steelers OC.

Monday was more business as usual, what with the Steelers preparing for the post-bye portion of their 2022 campaign. Will the answers to their woes be easy to find? Probably not, but at least you got through a weekend without Steelers football, right?

I know I had a blast during the just-completed Steelers-less weekend.

I watched a bunch of college football and found myself glowing in the aftermath that was the fantastic finish to the Alabama/LSU instant classic. I really hate when people use a variation of this line, but I feel it’s apropos when talking about the collegiate gridiron action that often takes place in the best conference in the country. SEC football: Inject it into my veins.

On the local college football front, I watched my Pitt Panthers, struggling mightily in the post-Kenny Pickett era, outlast the Syracuse Orangemen in a defensive battle at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday evening. At 5-4, the Panthers are currently projected to play in the Military Bowl, which is a few steps down from their ACC Championship and Peach Bowl appearance last season. I guess it’s unfair of me to expect Pitt to be in the national college football spotlight for the second year in a row.

Of course, I watched a lot of NFL action, including the Jets' upset of the Bills. Maybe that loss to New York in Week 4 wasn’t so bad, after all. OK, it was still bad, but the Jets seem to be rounding into shape, which perhaps can be an example of the positive things that can happen if a franchise drafts near the top of every round for a year or two.

In addition to watching football, I participated in two bowling playoffs and helped lead one of my teams to a championship—my third in thirteen seasons.

I also hung out, had a few “sodas” and hung out some more. It was a great weekend. In case you were wondering, I usually do the types of activities I just described during weekends when the Steelers are actually playing football, but it sure was nice to do them without the guilt of perhaps missing the black and gold in action.

Let’s be honest, the current Steelers are like watching your favorite show in its 10th or 11th season. While you can admit that the show jumped the shark a long time ago, you still feel as if you must watch it out of obligation and loyalty.

That’s how I feel about watching these 2022 (and 2021) Steelers, which is why I’m glad that I did not have to burden myself with them this past weekend.

It was great.

Bye weeks are usually depressing, but not so much when your favorite team is 2-6.