Today is the final day of our three part series on the AFC North, where we take a look at each individual team in the league, besides the Ravens, and make predictions for them, as well as evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Today, we wrap the series up by finishing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens’ chief rival in the AFC North. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the oldest team in the AFC North, being founded in 1933. Since then, the Steelers have become one of the most successful teams in the NFL, winning six Super Bowls since their inception. The Steelers are home to one of the best head coaches in the NFL, Mike Tomlin. Although I can’t stand the Steelers, I can acknowledge that they have good management. They also have some pretty good players, in quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and others. Last season, the Steelers won the division, after an exhilarating Christmas Day game against the Ravens.
Last Season
Last season was a very good year for the Pittsburgh Steelers. As previously stated above, the team won the division, finishing with an 11-5 record. In the playoffs the Steelers went all they way to the AFC Championship, only to get blown out by the New England Patriots. The team was mainly led by the offense, which was spearheaded by the three ‘killer bees’, Big Ben, Bell, and Brown. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger put another year in the books as the steady hand of the Steelers offense, with 29 touchdowns, and over 3,800 yards. He was able to perform at this high level, despite dealing with another injury, this time to his knee. Le’veon Bell, the team’s running back, put in another year as a prolific runner for the Steelers, rushing for 1,268 yards in 2016. However, Bell was suspended for the first three games of the NFL season. This marked his second straight year of being suspended. The final ‘killer bee’, Antonio Brown, is considered one of the league’s best wide receivers. He put on another stellar performance for the Steelers in 2016, recording just under 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns. Ultimately though for the Pittsburgh Steelers, an AFC Championship trophy was just out of reach, and the team will be looking to obtain it this year.
Major Offseason Departures
Released: CB Justin Gilbert, TE Lardarius Green
Left via Free Agency: WR Markus Wheaton, LB Lawrence Timmons, LB Jarvis Jones
Major Offseason Additions
Signed: DE Tyson Alualu
Drafted: LB T.J. Watt, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
Strengths
The Steelers are a good team, because of their many strengths. Their first and most obvious strength is their elite squad of the ‘killer bees’, Big Ben, Bell, and Brown. Ben Roethlisberger is an effective NFL quarterback. He has talent throwing the ball, with both accuracy and precision. He can get the ball nearly anywhere on the football field with ease. He is also exceptionally good at escaping the pocket to buy some time, in order to make a play. Roethlisberger is such a massive quarterback, that NFL defenders have a tough time of bringing him down. This plays to his advantage well, as he can escape sacks with ease. Le’veon Bell, the team’s running back is one of the better running backs in the league. His signature style of running, being patient and waiting for a hole to open before running, has allowed him to take advantage of over-pursuing defenders, and make big plays. The final player of the ‘killer bees’, Antonio Brown, is one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL. He is one of the greatest examples of players outperforming expectations in the NFL. He was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the NFL Draft in 2010. Despite being drafted so low, he quickly made a name for himself. In 2011, just his second season, he exploded onto the scene, totaling 1,108 yards receiving for the Steelers. He has not fallen back since. Besides these three players, the offensive line is a strong point for the Steelers. The Steelers have two players on the offense selected to multiple Pro Bowls, right guard David DeCastro, and center Maurkice Pouncey. The rest of the offensive line, left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, left guard Ramon Foster, and right tackle Marcus Gilbert, are also good at their craft. Overall, this offensive line is one of the best in the league, it can block for the run and the pass with equal strength. Altogether, this offense for the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the top in the league.
Weaknesses
Every team in the NFL has their weaknesses, and the Steelers, even with their success, are no exception. Generally, the defense for the Steelers is a liability. Although they do have some decent players on their front seven (linebackers and defensive linemen) such as linebacker James Harrison, and defensive end Cameron Heyward, the defense is most hindered by its secondary. To be blunt, the Steelers’ secondary is awful. It is a very leaky group, with little actual effect on the opponent’s passing attack. The group of cornerbacks and safeties is filled with less than mediocre players, playing at very crucial positions for any NFL team. Cornerback William Gay, who may be one of their best on the secondary, is aging and declining in his play. Safety Mike Mitchell is probably their best player in that part of the field, but even he is not one of the better defensive players by league standards. The team went out and drafted cornerback Cameron Sutton in the third round of the NFL Draft this year, but I doubt that he would be able to make a huge impact on the secondary’s performance this season. The Steelers have one other, more subtle weakness, that goes unnoticed by many. The lack of depth at offensive skill positions, specifically at quarterback and running back. The team has one of the best offenses in the league, without question. However, they rely so much on three players in particular, that without one or two of them, the offense could easily fall apart. Ben Roethlisberger is getting older, and even considered retirement after the 2016 season. He also has not been able to avoid the injury bug over the past few seasons, frequently missing a couple of games per season because of it. This is a huge problem for the Steelers. Sooner or later, Roethlisberger will either see a huge drop in his ability to produce for the offense or will find himself too injured to do so. Without a stable backup quarterback, the team could find themselves without their leader on offense, resulting in a season going awry when the time comes. Their backup is Landry Jones, who has played a bit in NFL games, however, he has not shown to be able to put up numbers like Roethlisberger, at all. The Steelers went out and drafted Tennessee quarterback, Joshua Dobbs, to try and solve this problem, but it remains unsolved, as Dobbs can’t be relied on as an NFL quarterback just yet. He will need time to develop, and the Steelers have to hope they won’t need to throw him on the field anytime soon. At running back, the team has a similar issue. None of the backups to Bell can get anywhere near his production value. Bell even might even by more vulnerable than Roethlisberger to being kept off the field. He has had some major injuries in the past, along with league suspensions. If Bell is kept off the field for too long, it will seriously hinder the offense. The apocalypse scenario, both Roethlisberger, and Bell being off the field for an extended period of time would put the team’s postseason hopes in jeopardy.
Predictions and Playoff Chances
The Steelers are the chief rivals of the Ravens, and always pose a threat to become the division champion each year. Next year is no exception to this. The Steelers could very well find themselves winning the division, and going to the playoffs, for a second straight year in a row. The Steelers have a very good chance at making the playoffs next season. Their high-powered offense has been able to carry the team to the postseason in recent years, and will likely do it again for them. However, the real question is whether or not they would win the division. Ultimately it comes down to how the Ravens perform. If the Ravens perform like they have in past seasons under John Harbaugh, they could very well win the division. The Steelers will probably finish the season with a 10-6 record, and make the playoffs as either the division champion or a wild card spot, depending on where the Ravens finish. However, their best case scenario is that they go 12-4, and easily win the division, win out in the playoffs, and make their way to the Super Bowl. They also could end up with their worst case scenario of 5-11. This would be contingent that Ben Roethlisberger sustains a season-ending injury early, and either Bell or Brown would also have to find their way off the field. Hopefully, injuries don’t interfere with this team or any team for that matter, but it seems that the Steelers may be more prone than most to them.
