My Steelers Rant

Hello, welcome to the very first post of Any Given Take. This NFL themed blog will focus on takes I have throughout the season and offseason. As a lifelong football lover, I have formulated takes and followed stories my entire life, and now I get to write about them. 

For this first post I wanted to discuss something that is very near and dear to my heart…. THE PITTSBURH STEELERS WILL CONTINUE BE MEDIOCRE UNLESS THEY CHANGE. As a lifelong Steelers fan, I have had my heart broken many times since 2016… which was the last time the Steelers won a playoff game. Since then, we have demonstrated the very definition of mediocrity

Here’s a hot take for you: since 2016 the Steelers are the “Dalton line” of the NFL. What does that mean? Well, this phrase originated from The Around the NFL Podcast and refers to the Quarterback Andy Dalton. Dalton’s stats would consistently balance out to about average every year, which led to the late Chris Wesley to coin the term “Dalton Line” referring to the line of needing a QB and not needing a QB; if a team’s QB played better than Dalton, they did not need a QB and he played worse than Dalton, they needed a QB. 

To compare the Steelers to the “Dalton Line” we must find the defining factor for teams above and below their playing level, and for me that starts with the coaching. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is the definition of the “Dalton Line” due to his very mediocre last 9 years as the Steelers coach. 

These last 9 years have boasted a Steelers average rank of 17 out of 32 for points on offense and 9 out of 32 teams for points allowed on defense. The offensive points are right in the middle of the pack, which is only higher due to Ben Roethlisberger’s last 5 seasons. 

When you take Ben Roethlisberger’s last 5 years out, the rankings don’t get any better. With the offense ranking 27th and defense ranking 8th. Also considering the 29-22 record over the last three years with two abysmal losses in the first round of the playoffs, this team just feels average in every way, both on the stat sheet and watching. 

It is no secret that Mike Tomlin can be the difference in games, and he deserves every bit of his winning record streak. However, we as Steelers fans are tired of the inconsistent mediocre play. Last Thursday nights collapse over an awful Bengals team led by journey-man (yes we can say that now) Joe Flacco to me is the final straw for this structure. 

To be considered a “defensive-minded” head coach while also having an absurd amount of money invested in the defensive side of the ball, we should not be seeing a team giving up the 4th most yards in the league through 7 weeks.

Unfortunately, Tomlin does just enough to keep his job (that’s where the “Dalton line” comparison comes from), what’s so tiring is that Tomlin does just enough to keep his job. This historic franchise is suited for so much more, but we aren’t seeing that. Instead, we’re settling for mediocre records and blowouts in the first round of the playoffs. Now I’m not calling for Tomlin’s job (yet), but I want a change in his and the rest of the teams mindset. If he is a hall of fame caliber coach, he needs to start winning playoff games without the help of a Hall of Fame quarterback like Roethlisberger. 

That is it for my Steelers rant, hopefully I don’t need to do this again… but the Steelers continue to disappoint, so maybe we’ll do this one again after we sneak into the wildcard round and get blown out again.