The Pittsburgh Steelers, by just about every measure available, are not good. But right now it doesn’t matter! After their 17-10 win over the Ravens on Sunday, the Steelers are in first place in the AFC North. Pittsburgh is tied with Baltimore at 3-2 atop the division, but the Steelers now have the head-to-head tiebreaker. Take that, Defector Media!
To be fair to us and everyone else who has seen a Steelers game this year, Sunday's win was kind of flukey. Kenny Pickett had basically one good throw. Pittsburgh had just three points before scoring 14 in the fourth quarter on a blocked-punt safety, a field goal, a 41-yard passing TD, and another field goal. Former WCW announcer Mark Madden is furious about the result, as now fans who want offensive coordinator Matt Canada fired will not get their wish.
And to be fair, the Steelers’ offense remains terrible. Yesterday’s offense averaged a paltry 4.4 yards a play. The Steelers are 30th in the league in yards per game. Fans booed and chanted “Fire Canada” throughout what wound up being a thrilling come-from-behind victory against a hated division rival.
The defense has been much better than the offense, and was particularly strong in the second half of yesterday’s win. But even that defense, which scored twice in the Steelers’ Week 2 win over Cleveland, isn’t getting too much credit from the local press. “The Pittsburgh Steelers defense was far from perfect throughout Sunday’s AFC North showdown,” Chris Adamski wrote in the Tribune-Review. Elsewhere in the paper, Tim Benz tipped his cap to Styx: “Credit the jumbotron staff for the well-placed timing of ‘Renegade.’ Immediately after the defensive rally song was played with 13:37 left in the game, the defense forced a three-and-out, and Miles Killebrew blocked a punt.”
You know how this all goes. The media is imploring the 3-2 division leaders to step it up, like Nick Farabaugh in Steelers Now: “Tomlin needs to look at the process and make changes to get the team back on track and coming out strong following the bye week.”
And they are right to point all this out! The Steelers stink! They’re also in first place—for now.
