Taking a look at the past two weekends of NFL football, especially this past Sunday’s conference championship games and one thing is clear, the Pittsburgh Steelers are nowhere near the upper echelon of the league.
The Chiefs are on their way to a historic third-straight Super Bowl and the only team in their way is the same opponent Kansas City played two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Then there are the teams that are closer to getting over the hump. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, Josh Allen and the Bills, Joe Burrow and the Bengals and C.J. Stroud and the Texans. And, that’s just the AFC.
Now is the time for the Steelers to tear it down. Take some chances in 2025 and see what happens.
Re-sign Justin Fields and cut him loose, no handcuffs.
If he fails, then you get a chance at your next franchise QB in the 2026 draft…in Pittsburgh.
If he succeeds, you know you have your guy.
The Steelers seem to be terrified of taking a chance. Trade T.J. Watt, trade George Pickens and make other tough decisions.
It will be painful to be a Steelers fan for a year or two, but isn’t it already?
Instead of winning 9 or 10 games, they’ll win 6 or 7 and will be in better position to retool for 2026.
But, what is most likely to happen, the Steelers will do just enough to get fans excited with a couple decent signings in the offseason and will do just enough to maybe get a 6th or 7th playoff spot.
Then, the week leading up to the Wild Card game, Steelers Nation will know their team has no chance, but there will be that outside hope.
“Maybe the other team will make enough mistakes that the Steelers can win.”
That’s no way to go into the playoffs and for nearly a decade now, fans haven’t felt good about going into a playoff game since they were dismantled by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017.
Big changes are needed if Pittsburgh wants to be in the same area code as the teams that have played the past two weeks.
Will it happen?