Hey, at least the defense has been amazing.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were never known for their incredible offensive firepower, instead opting to rely on a smash-mouth style of defense that left opposing teams shaking on the sidelines. For the most part, it's worked. Six Super Bowl titles in years where the defense was ranked in the top 10 in the entire league. While superstar and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger managed to pull out some incredible offensive seasons (including a stretch where the offensive/defensive reputations were completely flipped, hello Killer B's), it was the defense during successful years that propelled them forward.
Even so, Steeler Nation expects a 40-burger every now and then, especially in today's NFL.
Suffice it to say, fans have been starved of points in the last few seasons. A multitude of reasons are to blame for this lack of offensive output: injuries to an already aging Roethlisberger, a revolving door of offensive coordinators, the very public breakup of the electric trio: the aforementioned Roethlisberger, LeVeon Bell, and Antonio Brown. This, added to the lack of replacement for legendary Steelers tight end Heath Miller, left the offense with, to put it lightly, limited options (Vance McDonald had the best stiff-arm of all time, but wasn't exactly a superstar).
Photo via Medium.com
Over the last three seasons of Steelers football, the offense has left much to be desired, especially in the only statistic that really matters: Points. In the modern league, an elite defense isn't good enough: Some of the best modern defenses still give up 20 points/game regularly. Whether it's a good or bad thing is up for debate, but defensive stalemates are fading away in favor of offensive firework displays. All that to say, your team has to score.
Someone should mention that to the Steelers, though they've had a few solid performances.
40 points is a tough plateau to reach, no doubt, but it should be possible at least once per season, right? Well, the Steelers have had a certain reputation over the last decade and a half: playing down to the competition and losing against bad teams. That's not a great recipe for success when it comes to scoring points. Ergo, the Steelers haven't scored 40 points since November 8, 2018, against the Carolina Panthers.
Photo via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In the grand scheme of things, it's not an enormous amount of time. But considering the fact that the Steelers haven't had a losing season in that span, had a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback, had some elite wide receivers, and had some great running back play, it's just shocking that the wheels could fall off so abruptly.
For reference, the Steelers still had James Conner, Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Shuster, and James Washington on the roster, all of whom are no longer on the team.
The game itself was one to remember: and one of the last few times that a Steelers game didn't end in either heart attack or heartbreak. Roethlisberger would throw for 328 yards and 5 scores, throwing more touchdowns than incompletions (he went 22-25). Combined with a pick-six by Vince Williams against Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, the Steelers would have no problem dismantling the Panthers with a score of 52-21, who were a 6-2 club at that time. In fact, Carolina would go on to lose 6 straight games after the Thursday Night Football massacre, all kickstarted by the Black and Gold.
Photo via Bleacher Report
Since then, however, the 40-mark has been elusive.
They've gotten close on multiple occasions, like a 37-point effort against the Los Angeles Chargers or a 38-point blowout against the Cleveland Browns, but the ceiling hasn't been broken since that fateful November night. Now, over 1,300 days later, the Steelers are poised to go head-to-head with the Panthers again, their first meeting since that game.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin has a fantastic history with the NFC South, so there's legitimate hope to hit that magical mark again. While the new, revamped offense has a lot of questions that remain unanswered, the potential trio of rookie Kenny Pickett, Najee Harris, and Pat Freiermuth should serve as the new core for years to come. Steelers fans are high on these new players, and for good reason. Their production will only improve as their league experience increases, and we should be seeing offensive fireworks very soon.
Until then, we'll just have to bide our time with these new additions. Steeler Nation - cross your fingers.
Will the Steelers break the streak this season? Let us know in the comment section below!
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