The 2-6 record that the Pittsburgh Steelers trudge into the second half of the 2013 with has electrified their fan base in a way many have never experienced. It is a complete reversal of the campaign enjoyed by the Pittsburgh Pirates this past summer when they took their long-suffering fans on a joy ride that was two decades in the making. The Steelers have been spoiling their fans since 1992, the first season that Bill Cowher took the reigns of a struggling franchise that had been run into the ground by a faltering Chuck Noll era and immediately took the team to a division title. Ironically, that was the same year that the Pirates made their last postseason run before becoming the longest-running joke in professional sports.
As the Steelers plod through a season in which they seem destined to lose double-digit games for only the third time in 20 years, many fans are having a tough time grasping the concept of failure on the North Shore gridiron. This is the result of following a team that has made 14 playoff appearances, competed in eight AFC Championship games, played in four Super Bowls and won two Lombardi Trophies in this generation alone. It has been an unprecedented run of success for a team in the National Football league, where parity isn’t just part of the mission statement – it’s a stark reality. That parity is the reason why the Kansas City Chiefs are 9-0 and the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers are doling out playoff ticket plans to their fans after suffering through 10-plus loss seasons within the past five years.
We recommend checking out SportsBettingOnline.ag for all Pittsburgh sporting lines.
The Steelers simply haven’t gone through the ups and downs of a normal NFL franchise. Yes, they have had down years – a 6-10 2003, a 6-10 1999 and a 9-7 2009 when they hit a five-game losing streak that blew up a 6-2 start. Those seasons were aberrations that could be explained by the extensive injury reports that those teams carried around. It could also be argued that each of those years were simply bridge seasons that carried the team from one all-star roster to another. As veterans aged-out, the “next man up” philosophy would kick in – former Pro Bowlers would begin setting up daily tee times and new, young studs would take their place in the starting lineup. It was a remarkable concept that had served the team well since the mid-1970’s. Solid drafting and player development would enable the Steelers to never suffer through the sustained losing that most teams did when their stars were put out to pasture. Unfortunately, Steelers fans are now getting a taste of how the other half lives – and for the majority of the current fan base, it’s the first time they have experienced true NFL failure that has no end in sight.
This is a roster that does not have any “next men up.” It is a top-heavy team that suddenly looks up to find their core of stars all over 30 years old. While 30 might not seem like “old” to the average person, it is an age that virtually qualifies NFL players for senior citizen status. QB Ben Roethlisberger is 31 and has taken so many hits over the past decade that his body looks and feels like it is 50. TE Heath Miller is 31 and seems to be losing some of the durability that has defined his stellar career. DE Brett Keisel, FS Ryan Clark, CB Ike Taylor and SS Troy Polamalu are all over 30. Keisel is in his probable final NFL season, while Clark and Taylor are nearing the end of their starting days. Polamalu has rarely been able to stay healthy for a full season, and he is a man who will walk away from football before it takes away his mobility. These are the remaining veterans from a roster that at one time had perhaps six or seven future Hall of Famers on it. Over the past two years, the Steelers have seen WR Hines Ward, DE Aaron Smith, NT Casey Hampton and ILB James Farrior all retire, leaving massive holes on the field and more importantly in the locker room. No team can lose that much leadership and carry on without hitting some Western Pennsylvania-sized potholes.
It hasn’t helped that the once infallible GM Kevin Colbert has made some questionable player moves and even more questionable draft picks during the same time period that the team was losing so many of its leaders. RB Rashard Mendenhall was the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 draft and from 2009-2011 seemed to be on pace to become the next great Steelers rusher. Injuries and character issues made him expendable, and by 2012, he was on his way out of town. WR Mike Wallace was a steal for the team in the third round of the 2009 draft. He put up dynamic seasons in 2010 and 2011, and would have nabbed his third consecutive 1,000 year receiving season in 2012 had he not missed the final seven quarters of the season with injuries. His free agent status last spring came at a bad time for the Steelers, who were – and continue to be – hamstrung by salary cap issues. The Miami Dolphins offered him a ridiculous contract that the Steelers had no way of matching, and the team lost their biggest offensive weapon.
CB Keenan Lewis was on the verge of securing the starting left cornerback spot for the Steelers, but he was also too expensive for the team to resign. Lewis is enjoying a great season with New Orleans, already having nabbed three interceptions, a forced fumble and 19 tackles while starting all eight games for the 6-2 Saints. Outside linebacker and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year James, James Harrison, was allowed to sign with rival Cincinnati last April after the Steelers deemed him too expensive and asked him to take a 30 percent pay cut to fit their salary structure. That is three more starting players the Steelers have lost since 2011.
The draft has been even more of a failure. The Steelers have only managed to maintain 16 players drafted between 2008 and 2012. Many of those players are simply fringe guys – TE/FB David Johnson, LB Stevenson Sylvester, RB Jonathan Dwyer, LB Jason Worilds, DB Curtis Brown, DB Cortez Allen, TE David Paulson and LB/S Sean Spence (injuries accounting for Spence) have all contributed minimally to the team since being drafted. The 2008 draft is now a complete failure, with none of the seven players drafted still on the roster. The only player who accounted for any production out of that class was Mendenhall. The 2009 class was headed by DE Ziggy Hood, who has managed to become a decent starting end. Wallace and Lewis were part of this class, both gone as discussed earlier. Third-round pick OG Kraig Urbik has become a starter in Buffalo after never playing one down of regular season play for the Steelers.
Moon Township native and 2009 seventh-round pick C A.Q. Shipley has become a solid backup for Indianapolis and now Baltimore, again a player who never suited up once for the Steelers. The Steelers selected C Maurkice Pouncey in the first round of the 2010 draft, and when healthy, he has proven to be a Pro Bowl caliber center. WR Emmanuel Sanders (third round) has been a solid receiver, but will probably be gone this offseason when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. WR Antonio Brown, of course, has been fantastic, was a steal in the sixth round in 2010. The 2011 class gave the Steelers DE Cameron Heyward, who has yet to fulfill his potential. OT Marcus Gilbert has been solid when healthy.
In 2012, the Steelers were celebrated for drafting OG David DeCastro and OT Mike Adams; both considered first-round talents. Adams has been a complete bust, while DeCastro has battled injuries in both seasons and has yet to be able to fully develop. RB Chris Rainey seemed to be the next dynamic playmaker for the Steelers, but legal issues forced him out of football last year. Perhaps the best pick the Steelers made in 2012 was the seventh-round pick of OT Kelvin Beachum, who has shown flashes of starting potential. It is too early to call the 2013 draft a bust, but OLB Jarvis Jones and WR Markus Wheaton have surely not made any fans this season. The Steelers did draft RB Le’Veon Bell, who looks like the real deal, and SS Shamarko Thomas, a player who could end up being special once he harnesses his reckless aggression.
Missing out on so many picks has cost the Steelers. Their 2013 roster is the least-talented team the franchise has fielded in years. Filling holes with worn-down players like RB Felix Jones is a very unSteeler-like strategy. The team has been forced to add players like Jones, C Fernando Velasco, T Levi Brown, and TE Michael Palmer (the last two never seeing the field) to simply fill out a 53-man roster each week. With so little young talent, the team is in for a rough few seasons as they rebuild their roster. The salary cap remains an issue, but has begun to even out as players have left the team.
There may be some room to add free agents next spring, but don’t expect the Steelers to suddenly become a team like the Washington Redskins, relying on signing washed-up former stars with the hopes that they can regain some of their past glory. Unless the opportunity to sign a player that can immediately step in at ILB, OG, WR, or CB and start falls into their lap at a reduced price – Farrior in 2002 – don’t expect major free agent additions.
The Steeler will once again dive into the draft at their primary weapon for rebuilding this team. Barring a miracle turnaround over the next two months, the team will be drafting in the top 12 picks for the first time since selecting Roethlisberger with the 11th selection in 2004. The team needs to stockpile picks in the upcoming draft, which includes a deep class of seniors and a potentially historically-talented group of juniors who may declare eligible. The Steelers will need to come away from the 2014 NFL Draft with no less than six or seven legitimate NFL players. They may need to make some draft-day deals to add mid round picks.
This will be the biggest test that Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin have been through in Pittsburgh. Rebuilding the Steelers will take time – two years, two drafts, minimum. Steelers fans will need to be patient and have faith in the process. The Steelers have earned both of those things from their fans. Yes, we have illustrated that the team has failed in the draft. That is a trend that will need to stop immediately. However, what truly put the team in this situation was their dedication to the team that won this city two championships. The Steelers sacrificed the future to keep that roster together, and in turn they gave their fans exactly what every fan base in the NFL craves – Lombardi trophies.
Steelers fans can use the memories of that great team to carry them through the next two years, and remember that it was Colbert and Tomlin that made the decisions that resulted in an unparalleled run of sustained success. I’m sure if you went to the fans of ay NFL franchise, they would jump at the chance to see their team win two Super Bowls, even if it meant a down period on the other side.
Have faith, Steelers fans. The Steeler Way is still alive and well. Keep swinging those towels, and before you know it we will all be spending another cold February morning in downtown Pittsburgh for a seventh Super Bowl championship parade
