Playoffs or not, 2019 will go down as a success for the Steelers

The Steelers season will probably end today.

For this team to make it to the postseason, a lot of things have to go right.

First, Pittsburgh must beat the 13-2 Ravens and must do so in Baltimore. That's no easy feat, not even with Lamar Jackson taking a rest.

If the Steelers find a way to take down the dirty birds, they then must watch and pray for the Texans to beat Tennessee in Houston, which wouldn't be a lot to ask on most days.

On this Sunday, however, there's a good chance Bill O'Brien will sit his stars, as a Chiefs win over the LA Chargers would give the Texans absolutely nothing to play for.  Since Kansas City's game starts at 1, about 3.5 hours before the Texans kick off, Houston can relax and see what the Chiefs do before deciding whether or not to send out the A-team.

In the likely event of a Chiefs win, the Steelers will need a Houston team with nothing to play for to beat a Titans squad with their season on the line. Not exactly an ideal predicament.

Just like last year, when the Steelers needed the Browns to win in Baltimore, Week 17 will be a stressful time to breathe for Pittsburgh. What's different this time, however, is that the Steelers can be proud of this season, even if they fail to get into the playoffs.

The year of our lord, 2018 was one sent straight from hell. The Steelers, who were 7-2-1 through 10 games, should have made the playoffs but missed out because of one of the worst collapses in NFL history. This year, the team had no business winning six games, let alone making the postseason.

Yet, here we are, on the last Sunday of the regular season, a few fortunate bounces away from the Steelers doing what they couldn't do last year with Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown at their disposal.

After several years of underachieving, the Steelers are getting the most out of their talent in 2019, and more than that, the team, overall, is likable.

Last season, we heard all about Le'Veon Bell's absence, Big Ben's radio show adventures, and, eventually, AB losing his mind. On the field, a defense that couldn't get a turnover if its life depended on it plagued the team through several close defeats.

This year, we've been hearing not about drama, but instead about the lovable Devlin Hodges. We've seen the defense transformed by the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade, and a motivated Bud Dupree. We've enjoyed Heinz Field coming to its feet whenever Zach Banner is announced as an eligible receiver.

The only chatter has been about whether or not the team will play football in January, and that's how it should be.

The Steelers missing the postseason would still be disappointing. This was a team many expected to win the AFC North in August, and failing to qualify for the playoffs will leave us all wondering what could have been if Roethlisberger's elbow didn't betray him way back in week two. No matter what happens, this Steelers team overachieved, and when was the last time any of us could say that?

Steelers' hope lies in the North's ineptitude

Photo creds to Behind the Steel Curtain 

At 6:00 Sunday evening, I thought the Steelers were done.

1-4. 1.5 games out of first place. There was no reason to believe that Pittsburgh can get off the canvas. The Steelers needed to beat the hated dirty birds at home and didn't do it.
By midnight Tuesday morning,  the Cleveland Browns changed my mind when they got embarrassed in primetime in the City by the Bay. The Browns reminded me that the AFC North is terrible.

Now, I'm not suggesting that the Steelers will win the division. This team has a lot of work to do to make that happen and will have to do so with somebody not named Ben Roethlisberger as its field general. What I'm saying is that the AFC North is so bad, it'd be unfair not to think the Steelers at least have a chance. Not a great chance, but maybe a chance similar to the shot I have of getting married before the age of 30. Not great, but not entirely unreasonable.

Sure, the Ravens got a win in Heinz Field Sunday, but did Baltimore impress anybody? The birdies needed overtime to fend off Devlin Hodges. At 3-2, the Ravens record is bland, and so is their resume. Their two other wins have been against a Dolphins team that's the worst in the NFL and a
Cardinals squad in transition, the latter of which was a six-point squeaker in Baltimore.

The Browns were thought by some to be Super Bowl contenders. Instead, they are 2-3 with two of their losses coming by an average of 29 points. In one of Cleveland's wins, however, it put up 40 points against the Ravens in Baltimore. So yeah, the first place Ravens are quite vulnerable, and they're currently the kings of the North.

Coming into the season, every team in the division sans Cincinitti was a projected playoff contender. The three over teams had their share of concerns, but none were supposed to be bad. Right now, it looks like all three of them might be bad. So relative to the rest of the division, the Steelers aren't too far behind.

I know what the 1-4 record looks like. I know the Steelers are starting a quarterback that began the year on the practice squad.

I also know that there are also some positives to take away from the first five weeks.

I know that three of the Steelers' four losses have come by a combined total of nine points.

I know that the Steelers defense is greatly improved. Last year, that unit couldn't force a turnover if moving the team to North Korea was the only alternative. Now, no other defense in the league has forced more, and only the great Patriots have forced as many.

I remember last season, when it looked impossible for the Steelers to miss the playoffs, and they found a way to do that. Maybe the reverse can be true in 2019.

The Steelers have thrown themselves in a ditch. There's no sugarcoating that. If they are to make the postseason, they'll likely have to finish no worse than 9-7. To do that, they must go 8-3 the rest of the way, and that'd be a tall task with Ben Roethlisberger behind center, let alone Hodges or Mason Rudolph, the former of which must beat a future Hall of Famer in Phillip Rivers next Sunday to keep the season alive.

Winning the AFC North for the fourth time in six years doesn't look likely. Because of how bad the rest of the division and, for that matter, the rest of the AFC is, it's possible.

Steelers: Five things from week three loss

By: Donny Chedrick

Photo creds to Triblive.com

The Steelers got a glimpse of what life was like without Ben Roethlisberger in Sunday’s loss in San Francisco.

It wasn’t all bad, but Pittsburgh yet again came up on the wrong end of the scoreboard, suffering a 24-20 loss to drop to 0-3 on the season. It was a tale of two halves – the offense was inept for the first 30 minutes while the defense forced turnover after turnover. In the second half, Mason Rudolph and the offense got going, even scoring a pair of touchdowns, but the defense struggled to stop anything as the 49ers scored with under 90 seconds left to take the lead.

 Another difficult weekis  ahead as the Steelers try to keep their season alive on Monday night against the Bengals. Before that, we’ll talk about five things from Sunday in San Fran.

1.     Rudolph was OK

Before you jump on the second-year quarterback coming off his first start in the NFL in a losing effort – go back and look at Ben Roethlisberger’s numbers from Sept. 26, 2004. Wait, I’ll just give them to you. 12-22, 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but the Steelers won that game in Miami.

On Sunday, Rudolph had better numbers in his first start as a Steeler. 14 completions on 27 attempts for 274 yards, a pair of touchdowns and one interception described the day for the Oklahoma State product. Although he had plenty of mistakes, the kid had signs of promise. The offensive playbook seemed limited, which is something fans hope to see change.

Rudolph had only two completions when he threw the ball more than five yards down the field. Both went for touchdowns.

2.     The Debut of Minkah

Last week, the Steelers did something they never seem to do – make a splash trade to acquire a big-name player. Pittsburgh got defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick for a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, a move that the fan base had mixed feeling about. I, for one, was a fan. The Steelers are not good at drafting or developing defensive backs and traded a pick that would have been likely used on that position anyway for a young, proven guy at the position for the next few seasons. On Sunday, Fitzpatrick made some mistakes, but he showed his value in multiple ways. It didn’t take long for the former Dolphin to have an impact against the 49ers.

On a deflected pass, Fitzpatrick picked off 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo and he wasn’t done there. Fitzpatrick later forced a fumble that the Steelers recovered, giving him credit for two of the five turnovers. It was high-risk to give away the team’s first pick in next year’s draft, but Fitzpatrick’s play can prove to be high reward for the Steelers secondary.

3.     Meaning of Mike Munchak

One of the off-season moves that didn’t raise as much concern as it should have was the departure of offensive line coach Mike Munchak, who took the same job with the Denver Broncos. In the last few seasons under the tutelage of Munchak, the Steelers’ offensive line was rated amongst the best in the league. On Sunday, it appeared the line lost some touch, even with perennial All-Pro’s, center Maurkice Pouncey and guard David DeCastro, along with a solid left side, including Ramon Foster and Alejandro Villanueva.

Although Rudolph was only sacked twice, he made a lot of throws quickly because of heavy pressure from the outside. The Steelers run game struggled yet again, with James Conner only totaling 43 yards and 13 carries (more about the run game later). It has been an unexpected area of struggle so far this season and it’s something the unit needs to figure out before it’s too late – if it isn’t already.

4.     Costly Conner and the invisible Jaylen Samuels

The running backs have been quiet in 2019, unlike the rushing attack of the last several years. In the first three games, Conner is showing regression more than progression after rushing for just 43 yards on Sunday and having his third costly fumble in recent memory. With the Steelers leading late and in possession of the football, Conner put it on the ground – giving San Francisco a short field to work with. The 49ers scored moments later, leaving the Steelers under 90 seconds to get into the endzone. Of course, you can’t blame the outcome of a game on one play, but that is a turnover that can’t be made in that spot. Conner needs a bounce back and hopefully it happens this week against Cincy.

Another question mark from Sunday afternoon was the misuse of Jaylen Samuels. Now in his second season, the running back has seen his role grow as his young career has gone on. However, Samuels was on the field for just 14 snaps Sunday and didn’t touch the ball once. Samuels doesn’t need significant carries every week, but he touched the ball twice against New England and three times against Seattle. He’s also a threat out of the backfield in the receiving game and wasn’t used for that Sunday either.

We’ll see how things go from here on with the Steelers backfield as it’s definitely a group that needs to get the wheels moving.

5.     The curious case of Vance McDonald

Last week, Vance McDonald was a highlight of the Steelers home opener loss against Seattle. This week, McDonald hauled in just one catch for ten yards. Now there is news that the Steelers tight end is suffering from an injury and may miss some time after being seen with his arm in a sling. That injury prompted the Steelers to make a trade for the second consecutive week by acquiring tight end Nick Vannett from Seattle in exchange for a fifth-round pick. The Steelers tight end position is in peril as Xavier Grimble could take over as the top guy on the depth chart for the next few weeks.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Five takeaways from week two

By: Donny Chedrick 

Not an ideal start. 

The Steelers are 0-2 and that isn’t even the worst thing that happened this weekend at home against Seattle. Not only did the Seahawks prevail 28-26 with a huge game-ending drive— that required no points, but saw multiple big plays from Russell Wilson, the Steelers lost their Hall of Fame leader. Ben Roethlisberger is now out for the season needing surgery on his throwing elbow.

There is a lot from this weekend to recover from, but we’ll break down five things as the Steelers move to Week 3 in San Francisco.

1.     Ben goes down

Going into the season, nobody on this team wanted to prove more than Ben Roethlisberger. Even with a as a no doubt first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, Big Ben was going into the year without Antonio Brown for the first time in about a decade. Arguably the best QB-WR tandem in the league for the last five or so years broke up in an ugly way. Ben didn’t have a good start to the year, but nobody did. He completed eight passes Sunday at Heinz Field for 75 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. There were two throws when Ben immediately grasped his right elbow after the release. The second one took him out of the game and for the season as things quickly went from bad to worse.

2.     Rudolph’s turn to lead the sleigh

For just over a year, Mason Rudolph didn’t really get the chance to play in any reindeer games. Now his number is being called and the Steelers hope his bright, red nose can lead them down the cloudy road of uncertainty. The second-year QB was thrown into the fire Sunday and looked better than many may have expected. Rudolph was 12-19 for 112 yards, two scores and one interception – thanks in large part to another Donte Moncrief drop. Quite frankly, the Oklahoma State product stepped in and kept the Steelers in the game. He has some tough tests coming up as he will be expected to lead this team the rest of the way.

3.     Vanimal in action

In New England, Vance McDonald was virtually invisible, besides to late-game snags amounting to a few yards. In the home opener at Heinz Field, McDonald found the endzone twice on passes from young Rudolph. McDonald’s final line was 38 yards on seven receptions and a pair of scores. Both touchdowns came in the red zone as the “Vanimal” proves to still be a great target inside the 20-yard line. Sometimes a young QB relies on a TE as a safety blanket of sorts. We could see that here and we could see McDonald’s numbers go up without Ben under center.

4.     Still no running game

It was a concern after last week’s dreadful loss in New England, but even in a close game, the run game wasn’t there on Sunday at Heinz Field. James Conner led the charge, but left early due to an injury, finishing with just 33 yards on 11 attempts. Rookie Benny Snell Jr. added 23 yards, all of it coming on one carry and Jaylen Samuels held the rock just three times for 18 yards. This is something the Steelers need to fix quickly moving forward, especially having a young, inexperienced quarterback. Conner is questionable for Sunday, so if the Steelers go with a “by committee” strategy, two or three guys that carry the ball should expect to carry the load.

5.     The defense showed improvement, but got beat when it mattered

Luckily, the defense also made strides this week. Four sacks (2.5 from Stephon Tuitt) and two fumble recoveries – one being returned for a score by Mark Barron, only to be called back for a bad block and one returned to the goal line by rookie Devin Bush. Unfortunately, at big points in the game, Russell Wilson had his way with the Steelers defense. 300 yards and three touchdowns, while also running for more than 20 yards, including a few key scrambles on the Seahawks’ final drive. Granted, Pittsburgh has faced two QBs that will have busts in Canton, Ohio one day in weeks one and two. As the season goes on, the Steelers will have to find ways to make big plays in big moments because the defense will be a key part in how high the ceiling is for this team without Roethlisberger. On Monday night, the Steelers acquired defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick from Miami for a 2020 first round pick. No matter what you think of the trade, Fitzpatrick will certainly bring more stability to the defense over the course of the season, getting set to start his first game for the black and gold at free safety Sunday in San Francisco.