Defying all odds, the Pittsburgh Steelers have found themselves in the playoffs, facing off against the Buffalo Bills this Sunday at 1 PM. The Steelers’ season has been a swirl of highs and lows. From beating the Baltimore Ravens (13-4) and Cincinnati Bengals (9-8) twice, to losing to the pitiful Patriots (3-10) and Cardinals (3-10) in back-to-back weeks, the team has left many confused about whether they are an elite team or a fraud.
For the first 11 weeks, QB Kenny Pickett led the way, promoting a 7-4 record, that said, after going down to an injury, in week 12, Mitch Trubisky led the brigade for the following 3 weeks, losing all 3 games. Due to despicable performance, the Steelers promoted third stringer and veteran Steeler, Mason Rudolph to QB. This decision proved genius, and since employing Rudolph, he has guided the Steelers to a 3-0 perfect record, including, this week’s massive divisional win over the one-seeded Ravens. Consequently, the Steelers needed the help of the Tennessee Titans (5-11) beating the Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7), to reach the playoffs. This Sunday, January 7th, the Titans beat the Jaguars 28-20, providing the Steelers a playoff run as the 7th seed and coach Mike Tomlin’s 17th straight season as a .500 or better team.
Later on, Sunday night, the Buffalo Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins 21-14, giving them the AFC East divisional one-seed over the Dolphins, and leading them to take on the seventh-seeded Steelers as a second seed themselves.
Despite the excitement of reaching the postseason, one factor and challenge in the way will be the absence of superstar linebacker T.J. Watt. Watt went down in the week 18 game versus the Ravens after taking a hit to the knee from his teammate, 300 lb DT Montravious Adams. On the other side, however, the team will get back superstar free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick who has been out since week 15 with a knee injury. Additionally, they will get safety, Damonte Kazee, back, who has been out for three weeks on a suspension. This said, the team’s positives and negatives will balance out more than expected, but, that stated, Watt being out will be a major disappointment that can’t be replaced.
What’s Next:
This weekend’s game will answer many questions about the Steelers’ future. If they happen to win, it’ll mark just the fourth playoff win for the team in the last decade. Therefore, the team may look to stick to its core and continue to start Mason Rudolph into the 2024-2025 season. However, if they do happen to suffer defeat, the team may look to rebuild and renovate in the offseason.
The biggest question for the Steelers will be who their QB will be next season. As stated, this weekend’s game will have a big role in answering that question. The Steelers will have a bottom 15 pick in the draft and they are additionally a bottom ten team in cap space. However, this year’s draft class is loaded with talented QBs, so if the Steelers are so pleased to get a QB they can either trade up into a higher draft pick or possibly find a good option in the draft at their original pick. Nonetheless, there will be an abundance of closed doors the Steelers will look to open at QB for next season.
In addition to QB, the Steelers could look to improve talent at cornerback and offensive line. The most likely scenario would be looking to draft players at these said positions, however, in recent years, the Steelers have looked more and more to free agency to improve the roster.
Conclusion:
Overall, there are a lot of questions that are being asked and the game this weekend will answer an exponential amount of said questions — from starters next season to the legacy of the team. A lot hangs on this Sunday’s 1:00 PM kickoff.
