The Pittsburgh Steelers put on quite the performance last Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell looked like the stars we’ve known them to be, and the defense didn’t allow the Dolphins to get anything going.
Steelers are finally hitting on all cylinders
Pittsburgh has put it all together and has been one of the hottest teams in football.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
The Steelers had this in them for a while, but it hasn’t all come together at the same time for Mike Tomlin’s team. The transition from Bill Cowher to Tomlin in 2007 was seamless, and the franchise never skipped a beat. But the past few seasons, things haven’t gone quite as well as they should have.
The talent is there. With a trio like Ben Roethlisberger, Brown, and Bell, you’d think that things would be smooth. But that hasn’t always been the case.
Last season was a struggle, but they still played well
The 2015 season was a transition year for the Steelers defense. Dick LeBeau resigned in January after 13 years on the Steelers staff, spearheading some of the best defenses in the NFL for over a decade. The Steelers defense put together the league’s 21st best unit that season, which is pretty uncommon for a defense that was consistently ranked at or near the top from 2000 through 2012.
To go along with this, injuries struck Tomlin’s team in the worst way. Last year, defensive back Cortez Allen was on IR all season except for Week 1. Maurkice Pouncey spent the entire season on IR, and Bell missed the second half of the season, a year removed from a season where he had over 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns. This was after he missed the first two games due to suspension for a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. In the postseason, DeAngelo Williams — who was Bell’s backup — missed both of the team’s games due to injury.
Despite the injuries, the Steelers clinched last season’s final AFC playoff spot at 10-6. They beat their divisional rival Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card and ended up losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Broncos. That’s not a terrible loss, considering how brutal that defense was on opposing offenses that January and early February. We all knew the Steelers were good last season, but it always felt like there was something holding them back during any given week.
This season wasn’t exactly easy, either
Expectations were high heading into the season with a healthy unit that was able to compete despite injuries the season before. Early on, it looked like the Steelers were going to cruise this season, winning four of their first five games, which included a dominating 43-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The offense was clicking, putting up 38, 24, 43, and 31 points in the four wins, and this was without Bell who was suspended for the first three games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. In between those wins, they fell flat on their faces against the Eagles in a 34-3 loss on the road.
They followed up that stretch with four consecutive losses, with a bye week slapped in the middle. At 4-5, The Steelers’ fall felt faster than their ascent, and for a hot minute, it appeared that the entire AFC North was a dumpster fire. To be fair, Pittsburgh’s losses came to the Dolphins, Patriots, Ravens, and Cowboys. Three of those four were playoff teams — and the Ravens finished with the league’s No. 7 defense — so it wasn’t exactly a cakewalk.
That losing streak was broken with a win against the Cleveland Browns on the road, but heading into Week 12, serious questions remained about the Steelers. Little did we all know they’d put together one of the stronger finishes by any team we would see to finish the 2016 regular season.
They look like they’ve gotten things together and could go far
Since that losing streak, the Steelers have peeled off eight consecutive victories. Games against the Browns and Colts helped ease them into the winning streak, before pulling out victories over the Giants, Bills, Bengals, Ravens, Browns, and most recently the Dolphins.
In the Steelers’ Wild Card game against the Dolphins, Bell showed us what we he’s capable of on a big stage, setting a team playoff record with 167 rushing yards. It helped power the Steelers past the Dolphins for an easy win, something that the team was missing last postseason. The offensive line was a big reason for this, along with the team’s overall success. They’ve given up just 1.31 sacks a game, which is the second-least in the NFL.
“I don’t feel fatigued,” Bell said via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler after the game against Miami. “The offensive line wants to run the ball so we went down there and ran the ball in the end zone.”
His line enjoys it, too. “I’ve loved to block for him. I’ve seen other guys try to do [his patient style] and can’t do it,” guard Ramon Foster said. “Our job is to hold our blocks. He’s by far the best back in the league, no matter what other guys say.”
Defensively, the Steelers have improved. The rugged veteran linebacker James Harrison led the team in sacks this season with five, which isn’t necessarily up there among the league’s elite. But players like linebacker Bud Dupree, who has had five sacks in the past seven games, make a huge difference.
Roethlisberger has had some not-so-great games during the winning streak, but because the slack has been picked up by others, like with Bell and Dupree, it’s helped make a difference and keep the Steelers going. It hasn’t been pretty, but it’s almost fitting for a Steelers franchise we’re used to seeing compete — and one we know has a high ceiling.
The Steelers are playing some great football at the right time. Now it doesn’t really matter what happened during the first 16.
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