The Pittsburgh Steelers have hit the midway point of the 2019 NFL season and while things haven’t gone according to plan, sitting at 4-4 has to be considered a victory on some level. What have we learned about the Steelers through eight games? Here are our four big takeaways.
Pittsburgh misses Antonio Brown
For all his antics, there’s no denying the profound impact Brown had on the Steelers offense. There was never a question of pulling coverage his way and this shutting him out of games, and he never got the credit for how much his presence helped the rest of the team flourish. Does anyone want him back? Nope. But you can not want him back and still concede how much he did for the offense.
The defense is greatly overachieved – or have they?
Everyone, myself included, has made a big deal about how well the Steelers defense has played. With the Pittsburgh offense stuck in neutral, it has been the defense that has carried the team. But should anyone really be overly impressed a unit filled with first and second-round picks is suddenly good? This really should have been the case prior to 2019.
This glimpse of the future of the offense hasn’t been great
With the injury to Ben Roethlisberger and the losses of Brown and Le’Veon Bell, the Steelers have gotten a taste of what the future of this offense might be. And to be completely honest, it isn’t exactly inspiring. Fingers crossed the team can see growth from Mason Rudolph over the next games, if for no other reason than evaluation purposes prior to the offseason and the draft.
Mike Tomlin might be the coach of the year
Tomlin takes a ton of criticism from the fans but if he turns this team around and gets them to the playoffs, he has to have strong consideration for Coach of the Year. Multiple teams have lost their starting quarterbacks this season and Pittsburgh seems to be one of the teams able to rise above.
