Steelers Fans: You should know the drill by now

Photo creds to WTAE.Com

Let's be clear on one thing right away; every Pittsburgh Steeler fan on this planet has every right to be frustrated by what transpired at Hard Rock Stadium (yes, that is an actual stadium name) on Sunday afternoon. The Pittsburgh Steelers were flat. They couldn't stop the run. The couldn't move the ball, partly due to Todd Haley abandoning the running game for whatever reason. They got utterly clowned by an average at best Miami Dolphins team. So, October 16th, 2016, was not a good day for the Pittsburgh Steelers. With all of that said, one question I have is; did we learn anything about the Steelers that we didn't already know?

5-6. Since 2014, that's what the Steelers record is against teams that finished the season with a .500 record or below, and that does not include win/loss records at the time of the game. If you watch the Pittsburgh Steelers on a regular basis, you know that this team tends to play to the level of its competition. I don't know why this is, but games like the one on Sunday have happened too often over the past two years to be considered merely a coincidence. The Steelers lost to a bad team, and we know that Pittsburgh has a habit of doing that. So, what exactly was different about Sunday afternoon?

Ok, so the Steelers typically decent run defense was torn apart by Jay Ajayi, who wasn't even respected enough to be starting on Joseph Arthur Smeltzer's fantasy team (I mean, he is about to be 6-0, but still), rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns. That's not okay. It's also true that the Dolphins quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, who had been sacked 17 times in Miami's first five games, did not hit the ground once. That's not okay, either. But the Steelers defense is what it is. Pittsburgh's defense, most of the time, should be at least adequate not to negate their historically good offensive attack. It is also worth noting that Ryan Shazier and Cam Heyward, the two best players in the front seven, were not on the field.

I was watching ESPN's First Take this morning, and one of the debate topics was ''are the Steelers overrated?'' Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but I don't see how this Steelers team can be considered overrated. They are 4-2, and still, in my view, the second-best team in the AFC. Last season, the Steelers finished at 10-6. The year before that, 11-5. Through 6 games in 2015, the Steelers were 4-2. In 2014, they were 3-3. If the Steelers were to finish with an 11-5 or even a 10-6 record, it would almost certainly be enough to win the AFC North (the Steelers could win that division by accident at this point) and might even suffice the #2 seed in the AFC.

In the eyes of most so-called ''experts'', the preseason top 3 teams in the American Football Conference were, in no set order; Pittsburgh, New England, and Denver. Through 6 weeks of the season, is there any reason to believe those are not still the top 3 teams in the AFC? Both the AFC East (minus New England)  and the AFC South are terrible, and the Steelers run the AFC North. That leaves us the AFC West. Sure, 3 of those teams have a winning record. But can anybody look me in the eye and tell me that the Oakland Raiders or the Kansas City Chiefs are on Pittsburgh's level? The Steelers wrecked KC 43-14 just two weeks ago, and the Chiefs pounded the 4-2 Raiders yesterday. Knowing that both Oakland and Kansas City are in the top half of the conference is telling of where the Steelers stand.

The primary concern that fans should have, and likely do have right now is the health of Big Ben Roethlisberger. #7 suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and underwent surgery on Monday, which means that he will miss the mega-clash with Tom Brady and the Pats this Sunday at Heinz Field. With Pittsburgh having a bye, and Ben not needing his knees as much due to being a pocket passer, there is a reasonable possibility that Roethlisberger could be back for the November 6th tilt with the Dirty Birds in Baltimore. While it is true that Ben might not be back that quickly and could be out for a while, what good does it do us fans to over speculate? Whatever happens with Big Ben's health will occur, so let's just wait and see how this plays out.

The Steelers offense was dead on Sunday. But it's worth noting that due to injuries to Sammy Coates and Markus Wheaton, the Miami defense was able to key on Antonio Brown, making him a non-factor. The thing that bothered me most about the offense was the putrid play of the offensive line. However, the Steelers O-Line was even worse three weeks ago in Philadelphia and was able to bounce back the next two weeks. So, I think the Big Bois will be just fine.

So are the Steelers overrated? If you're judging them by the standards of the 1970's and early-mid 2000s, then yes. But this is 2016. The Steelers are a relatively one-dimensional team, and a franchise known to slip against its inferiors. But if you judge the Pittsburgh Steelers by the standards of every AFC team outside of Massachutes and Colorado, then they are doing pretty well for themselves. We have played six games, and there are ten more to play. So buckle up. There will be plenty of ups, and maybe a few downs, ahead for the Men of Steel.