Steelers One Of Five Teams Predicted To Fall Off A Cliff In 2021

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers One Of Five Teams Predicted To Fall Off A Cliff In 2021

By Alex Kozora
Posted on February 14, 2021

If CBS’ predictions come true, 2021 won’t be a good year for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a recent article, Pittsburgh was one of five teams projected to fall off a cliff for this upcoming season. Despite their 12-4 finish in 2020, CBS’ Jeff Kerr envisions a much tougher road next year.

Here’s what he had to write:

“Pittsburgh couldn’t run the ball effectively and its receivers dropped passes at an alarming rate. This was an issue all season, not just in December and January. The Steelers didn’t even try to run the ball late last season, nor could they throw the ball deep because Ben Roethlisberger was 38 and coming off elbow surgery. Let’s not forget Roethlisberger lost his mobility and is relegated to being a pocket quarterback. Roethlisberger is coming back at 39 and the Steelers still can’t run the ball — not to mention JuJu Smith-Schuster is likely leaving in free agency and Pittsburgh is a projected $30 million over the salary cap.

Roethlisberger has to restructure his contract and the Steelers have to find a way to improve this roster to give their franchise quarterback one last chance at a Super Bowl. Here’s the problem: Baltimore and Cleveland are in the AFC North and only getting better and Pittsburgh plays a first-place schedule. The Steelers look destined for third in the AFC North and a rebuild starting in 2022.”

Nothing Kerr says there is unreasonable or inaccurate. The Steelers don’t need to wait until next season to fall off a cliff. That descent began over the final few weeks of this past season. They became the first team in NFL history to start a season 11-0 yet finish with four losses. Pittsburgh went 1-4 over the last five weeks of the season before a devastating Wild Card defeat to the Cleveland Browns. The issues Kerr laid out, lack of a run game, no vertical component in the pass game, were all reasons why.

And that road doesn’t get any easier for next season. The cap situation isn’t good, even if they might not be in the “cap hell” some think they are, and there’s a slew of starters about to hit free agency. These were all warning signs we wrote this past summer when we wrote, “Enjoy 2020 – It’s Pittsburgh’s Best Shot For A Super Bowl.”

Now that prediction has become reality. The Steelers will have a worse roster in one of football’s toughest divisions. I won’t go as far to agree with the assessment the team is “destined” to finish in third place but it won’t be a surprise if they do either. Certainly winning 12 games next season seems like a daunting task.


https://steelersdepot.com/2021/02/steelers-one-of-five-teams-predicted-to-fall-off-a-cliff-in-2021/

[Northern_Blitz]

Hard to argue against this after we already fell off the cliff last season and we'll lose a bunch of guys.

Bush should be health though.

[Steel Maniac]

Hard to argue against this after we already fell off the cliff last season and we'll lose a bunch of guys.

Bush should be health though.

As long as we take full advantage of falling off by going and getting our QB of the future with a high draft pick then then the fall may be worth it.

[Northern_Blitz]

As long as we take full advantage of falling off by going and getting our QB of the future with a high draft pick then then the fall may be worth it.

Yep. I'm on team tank. But I doubt Art II is.

[SteelBucks]

Predictions this time of year are pointless. Before FA, draft. It’s all BS until you see the product on the field, which I feel will be much better than people think.

[Northern_Blitz]

Predictions this time of year are pointless. Before FA, draft. It’s all BS until you see the product on the field, which I feel will be much better than people think.

I hope you are right.

[Oviedo]

If it comes to pass then we get to have very interesting discussion for the 2022 draft and free agency

[NorthCoast]

Nothing here is stretching the truth. I will wait til after the draft and free agent signings before predicting gloom and doom. The Steelers likely won't be better next year but I look forward to seeing how Tomlin navigates what will be a very tough season.

[Starlifter]

If based on Ben during the last 2 months of the season instead of his career as a whole - I have come to the position it's better to swallow the medicine now and get ready for the future. Nothing I saw from Thanksgiving on tells me this is a team on the cusp of a super bowl. The article accurately reflects the Steelers predicament. I was half joking about it in the JJ thread - but as I typed it, I started to embrace the concept. Retire Ben, keep the Defense strong with Bud and perhaps adding JJ (if the price is right). Focus on your young QB's and commit to a run-oriented ball control offense while counting on your defense to not surrender more than 17 points.

That seems to me to be the most land-mine free course.

[Steel Maniac]

If based on Ben during the last 2 months of the season instead of his career as a whole - I have come to the position it's better to swallow the medicine now and get ready for the future. Nothing I saw from Thanksgiving on tells me this is a team on the cusp of a super bowl. The article accurately reflects the Steelers predicament. I was half joking about it in the JJ thread - but as I typed it, I started to embrace the concept. Retire Ben, keep the Defense strong with Bud and perhaps adding JJ (if the price is right). Focus on your young QB's and commit to a run-oriented ball control offense while counting on your defense to not surrender more than 17 points.

That seems to me to be the most land-mine free course.

Yep... a few of us are ready to take that medicine now.

[hawaiiansteel]

Predictions this time of year are pointless. Before FA, draft. It’s all BS until you see the product on the field, which I feel will be much better than people think.

I agree, there are so many moving parts and unanswered questions still to make any type of educated guess yet.

[The Man of Steel]

Let’s face it, last year’s 12-4 Steelers team really wasn’t all that much better than the previous season’s 8-8 team. The one thing those 2 Steelers teams have in common is that they both fell off of the cliff at the very end of the season.

[Northern_Blitz]

Let’s face it, last year’s 12-4 Steelers team really wasn’t all that much better than the previous season’s 8-8 team. The one thing those 2 Steelers teams have in common is that they both fell off of the cliff at the very end of the season.

Yep. And it was way more concerning this year IMO.

I understood it last season when Rudolph and the band of misfit toys we had at skill positions were forced to be the core of the offense.

But this year was supposed to be different.

[NorthCoast]

Yep. And it was way more concerning this year IMO.

I understood it last season when Rudolph and the band of misfit toys we had at skill positions were forced to be the core of the offense.

But this year was supposed to be different.I agree. The late season fails the last couple of seasons could be signaling a time for changing of the guards.

[Northern_Blitz]

I agree. The late season fails the last couple of seasons could be signaling a time for changing of the guards.

Potentially at HC too (if that wasn't clear on my end).

I'd still give MT a couple of years though. See how he does in a rebuild.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

I think we are about to got down a peg or two in 2021

A brutal schedule
Many losses in free agency
Ben retiring soon or coming back at age 39.

But what do I know, we've got Mike Tomlin as the head coach! Forget his playoff record, he's never had a losing season and there are now 7 teams from each conference that make the playoffs.

[Notleadpoisoned]

I don’t know how to post links on here but I saw on a CBS website where they did a 2020 NFL redraft and in it they moved Kevin Dotson, Alex Highsmith and Chase Claypool into the first round. Maybe whoever did the redraft was a bit of a homer but it kind of gives me a little more optimism for the team’s future just as things were looking a little bleak.

[feltdizz]

I agree. The late season fails the last couple of seasons could be signaling a time for changing of the guards.


our defense has been hit by the injury bug these past few years.

We always said “wait until Ben plays with this defense” but by the end of the year our D was missing 3 key players.

Bush, Dupree and Haden

[Northern_Blitz]

I don’t know how to post links on here but I saw on a CBS website where they did a 2020 NFL redraft and in it they moved Kevin Dotson, Alex Highsmith and Chase Claypool into the first round. Maybe whoever did the redraft was a bit of a homer but it kind of gives me a little more optimism for the team’s future just as things were looking a little bleak.

That's pretty cool.

Last year's draft looks like a pretty good one (and we didn't even have a 1st round pick!).

I think we really need another good draft this year too with several holes to fill.

Posting links is a bit odd on this site. You need to press the "filmstrip" button and copy the link address into the window that pops up. If you do this on a normal link, it will just show up as a hyperlink. If you do it on an actual video (e.g. Youtube), it will embed the video in the comment.

[feltdizz]

I think we are about to got down a peg or two in 2021

A brutal schedule
Many losses in free agency
Ben retiring soon or coming back at age 39.

But what do I know, we've got Mike Tomlin as the head coach! Forget his playoff record, he's never had a losing season and there are now 7 teams from each conference that make the playoffs.

no idea how brutal the schedule is next year.. a ton of teams will play musical chairs with their rosters and with their QB’s.

but I don’t think we are SB contenders next year but you never know.

[hawaiiansteel]

is this the Cliff they're talking about?

https://static0.thesportsterimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Cliff-Stoudt-pinterest.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=473

[Iron City Inc.]

I don’t know how to post links on here but I saw on a CBS website where they did a 2020 NFL redraft and in it they moved Kevin Dotson, Alex Highsmith and Chase Claypool into the first round. Maybe whoever did the redraft was a bit of a homer but it kind of gives me a little more optimism for the team’s future just as things were looking a little bleak.
That's over the top on optimistic. They all out played there draft round. Claypool played like a 1, Highsmith a 2 n Dotson a 3. That said we don't know if they'll get better or go the other way.
A solid draft by Colbert and a really good addition in MF.

[tiproast]

Based on the following chart, it looks as if the Browns did pretty well last year in spite of injuries.

If they continue to improve, and regress to the mean with injuries (or have a relatively injury free year), they will be a factor in 2021.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eu8fXWXXYAMXfb3?format=png&name=4096x4096

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Our schedule is the toughest I've seen in years. Now that Ben is back, I'd draft RB and OL, and hope the defense doesn't get old in a few spots. Also note to Ben work harder in the off season. The Steelers are giving you a 3rd chance at age 39.

There are 7 playoff teams. With Ben , we would be one of them. It would greatly upset me if the Steelers extend Tomlin. Move on for him after 2021. We need a fresh offensive minded coach.

[whatever]

We’ll be fine.
8-8 isn’t falling off a cliff, is it?