By: Bill Washinski
SteelerNation.com
Many words were used to describe the Pittsburgh Steelers performance vs. the Indianapolis Colts: embarrassing, depressing, ugly…
Many were calling for Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger to be benched (definitely not me).
Personally I was thinking of a year and a name:
1983 and Cliff Stoudt.
1983 and 2020 were beginning to feel eerily similar – not in a good way:
- Hall of Fame QB Terry Bradshaw was coming off elbow surgery (1983).
- Future Hall of Fame QB Ben Roethlisberger was coming off elbow surgery (2020).
Prior to their respective elbow surgeries, some other coincidences:
- Bradshaw was coming off leading the NFL in TD passes for the 2nd time.
- Roethlisberger was coming off leading the NFL in passing yards for the 2nd time.
But it's clear that both QBs entered the stretch run of their careers with a real chance to go out on top.
Through 11 games/following 3 games:
- 1983: Steelers were 9-2/lost 3 consecutive games.
- 2020: Steelers were 11-0/lost 3 consecutive games.
In both 1983 and 2020, the Division Championship, once considered a foregone conclusion, was on verge of being decided in the final game of the season vs. the Cleveland Browns.
To throw an added twist, in both 1983 and 2020, the New York Jets again were a factor in the season’s penultimate week as for a while there it looked like the Jets winning was the only way the Steelers were going to win the division. In 1983, Bradshaw needed only two drives to generate 2 TDs that secured the AFC Central Division Championship. Unfortunately, his elbow popped on his final TD throw.
Making things worse was all the commentary about Roethlisberger being done, time to retire, it being his fault, etc. according to all the "experts" and pundits, and especially on the cesspool of hatred that is Twitter. It was just beginning to remind me of the horrific 1983 days of Cliff Stoudt.
No one was feeling confident about depending on the pathetically underperforming Stoudt (who during the Steelers 1983 collapse failed to reach 10 completions or 100 yards passing 4 consecutive weeks) to prevent the futility of watching a then despised legitimate rival Browns knock the Steelers out. Stoudt was horrific all season with 12 TDs/21 INTs and a Steelers running game that was success through attrition and not with great play.
To be fair, maybe Stoudt didn’t deserve quite the level of vitriol as both Lynn Swann (retirement) and John Stallworth (injury) were absent. But he still could have shown a lot more toughness. It took only 5 passes from Bradshaw to show how close the core of that Steelers team was to one more Super Bowl run and he shrunk from the moment. After barely putting up a fight in a 1 and done playoff game, Stoudt hightailed it out of town to join the USFL. Just to show the appreciation for that, the only sellout in Pittsburgh Maulers history was when they played the Stoudt led Birmingham Stallions as fans attended just to boo him.
azquotes.com
You know that if Heinz Field had fans Sunday, it would have been a chorus of boos. He’s heard it before. You could see Roethlisberger was lacking in confidence lately. He’s bounced back from slumps before. There is a lot riding on his shoulders, and he realizes the opportunity 2020 has positioned the Steelers in. When Diontae Johnson made that play for him with the 39-yard TD, you could see it just ignited him. He didn’t come back to win the AFC North Championship, hit the 60,000-yard milestone, or win MVP, he wants that elusive 3rd Super Bowl.
This core is close just like the 1983 core was. It’s easy to forget that same core Stoudt quit on reached the 1984 AFC Championship, knocking off the eventual Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers and defending champion Los Angeles Raiders. Just imagine if Bradshaw had 1 more year on that elbow, what could have been different? With Big Ben and the team confident, this core has the ability to achieve that one final rung of that elusive 3rd Super Bowl that Ben really came back for. Granted, in particular due to the injuries, they may need a little luck, but then again, most teams that win it all do.
#SteelerNation
