Who are the real Steelers? Are they the 2-3 team that people were writing off and saying “this season is over already.” Or are they the 4-0 team that has the city believing again and the league talking about them.
Let’s be honest, the Steelers looked pretty bad through the first five games. They beat two teams that in retrospect are pretty terrible, the Eagles and Jets. Out of their losses, two were to dreadful teams, the Titans and Raiders. This version of the Steelers could have been 4-1 if the defense held on to late leads. For the most part during this five game stretch, the offense did its part to win games. But the defense couldn’t hold on to late leads. The defense was looking old, slow and tired. Sure, the team could blame injuries, but they play by the famous Tomlin phrase “the standard is the standard.”
The Steelers have been decimated by injuries so far this season. But this team has survived through the injuries and in certain cases have exceeded expectations. Some people blamed their first couple losses on injuries, and said the team would be better as they got healthier. But fans have learned this year that this Steelers team might have more depth than we originally thought during the off season and preseason. Troy Polamalu has been missed, but not nearly as much as people would have thought. Rashard Mendenhall has missed all but one game this season, and most people have not even noticed. No team wants injuries to happen, but this years Steelers are showing how to overcome them with depth and perseverance.
Fast forward to the start of week 11, the Steelers are now 6-3 and have won four games in a row. The offense has continued to be impressive with their more balanced attack of running and passing the ball. The offensive line, even though battling through injuries, has for the most part kept Ben Roethlisberger from being sacked this year. They are also creating giant holes for the running back(s) to gain positive yards every play. The biggest difference in the past four games has to be the defense. They are showing the ability to stop teams, which is something they couldn’t do during the first few games.
They all but shut down AJ Green, who is one of the most explosive players in the league. The next week, maybe an even more impressive task, they stopped one of the most talked about rookie quarterbacks, Robert Griffin III (RG3). The Steelers were also able to contain one of the most clutch quarterbacks Eli Manning. This last game, they shut down a terrible Chiefs team after a debacle of a first quarter. This team has improved almost weekly and is looking good to make the playoffs, and maybe win the division.
We all know who the Steelers best player is and who usually steps up his game during crunch time, and that is Roethlisberger. With Ben being out for the foreseeable future with his shoulder injury, and more importantly his rib injury, who is going to step in his absence? The next three games are all division games and are very close to must win games.
Can they win without Ben? IF the defense continues to impress, they have a chance, albeit a slim chance.
Who are the “real” Steelers? Are they the offensive powerhouse that went 2-3 and couldn’t stop anyone? Or are they the 4-0 balanced team that is offensively good enough to win games and has been shutting teams down?
I have hope that we will begin to see the more balanced team that has continued to win over the past few weeks, especially with Roethlisberger injured.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
