TIME TO THROW IN THE TERRIBLE TOWEL?
88 seasons, 6 Super Bowls, 32 playoff appearances, 24 division titles, and 1 liability at quarterback. The Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the greatest franchises, perhaps, THE greatest in NFL history. The Steelers are known for franchise centerpieces – players easily recognizable and beloved by loyal fans – Mean Joe Greene, Lynn Swann, Jerome “The Bus” Bettis, Terry Bradshaw, James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, Antonio Brown, LeVeon Bell, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. In recent years, one man, literally, has stood taller than the rest, Big Ben Roethlisberger. At his peak, Big Ben secured 2 Super Bowl championships, and made it to a third. However, as of late, is Roethlisberger hurting the Steelers more than helping?
For more than two decades, Big Ben has been a key factor in Pittsburgh. in 2004, Roethlisberger was drafted behind the likes of Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, and Larry Fitzgerald. While Manning is also known for two Super Bowl wins and famously toppled the undefeated Patriots, I believe Big Ben stood out as the best play caller in that class. Unfortunately, Ben has sustained several back and arm injuries since his last Super Bowl appearance (2011).
In the past, the Steelers boasted a great O-line, running game, and receiver core to complement superstar wide receiver, Mr. Big Chest, Antonio Brown. Alas, those times are gone, AB won a ring in Tampa and LeVeon Bell is a free agent. The once formidable O-line is disbanded: Pouncey is retired, Villanueva has signed with Baltimore, and DeCastro is coming off an injury.
Furthermore, the Black and Gold have a cap problem. They are one of the few teams over the NFL’s cap regulations. Basically, they have spent too much money on contracts and are in debt, per se to the league. The Steelers have dished Big Ben cap-crippling contracts his entire career; in return, have left less than stellar salaries for other stars. *Since 2016, Big Ben has banked more than THREE TIMES the amount New England inked Tom Brady. PERSPECTIVE. Moreover, the Steelers are still chipping away at Bell and AB’s contracts due to abrupt exits and non-voidable clauses.
Pittsburgh has major decisions to make in 2021. Will they pay star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and receivers Smith-Schuster and James Washington? It’s time for decisions makers to recognize recent key personnel losses (Bud Dupree, Joe Haden, and former Pro-Bowler James Conner) and act accordingly. In 2022-2023, the Steelers potentially could lose JuJu, Terrell Edmunds, and Devin Bush to free-agency.
Realistically, Big Ben is a shell of the former All-Pro QB. The elbow injury in 2019 crippled his deep ball game – 56% of the Steelers’s pass attempts were under 5 yards (2020-2021). Roethlisberger has also lost mobility. He can no longer break sacks and evade rushers in the pocket, especially with a dilapidated O-line. The sacks and beating are taking a toll on the big man. What about the QB backup situation or lack thereof – don’t forget 2019. Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges are sub-par. But against popular expectation, Pittsburgh chose NOT to add a QB in the 2021 draft. Does this mean that Ben is the long-term solution or is it time to throw in the terrible towel? How much more can the Steelers Nation take?
Only time will tell, injuries and 4 games in almost back to back surely influenced our defense. Pittsburgh was 11and 0 , the defense got tired as well as the offense. No other team played that many games in such a short period of time .
The Steelers did have bad injury luck towards the end of the season, but to get beat in the playoffs by that margin and have that many turnovers is a bad sign.