Many people said _ and wrote _ this week that if the Steelers don't win the Super Bowl it will be a huge failure and the team will be broken up and never heard from again. Let's not lose our minds here. Sunday's game against the Dolphins is big for the legacies of Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin, but once in the second round there's no more pressure on the Steelers than any other team.
A lot of people believe the Steelers are the third-best team in the NFL. The idea that the Steelers need to get to the Super Bowl in order to avoid questions is ridiculous because they aren't the AFC favorites and almost certainly will have to beat New England at Gillette Stadium in order to get to the Super Bowl. That's not something the Steelers have been very good at doing, and more importantly, if they lose a close game to the Patriots it isn't a sign of anything other than the Patriots being that much better than everyone.
I also don't buy the idea that this may be Tomlin and Roethlisberger's last best chance to get the franchise's seventh Super Bowl trophy. In fact, I would argue that the Steelers are likely to fall just short this year but enter next season, if not the next two seasons, as the AFC favorite. They will return most of their team, and their defense will only continue to get better as Tomlin and Kevin Colbert continue to rebuild it. That doesn't mean the Steelers can't win the Super Bowl this year, but it does mean this isn't the end of the line for this group.
Yes, Roethlisberger is getting up there in age, and any time a quarterback approaches his mid-30s it means he is on the downward slope of his career, but he has at least three really good seasons left in him. That means the window will be open for a few more runs at the title.
I agree the Steelers need to beat Miami or this season will have been a failure regardless of winning the AFC North Division title. The Steelers are healthy, the "big three" has been playing well in recent weeks and they start at home against a dead team walking, the ailing Miami Dolphins. I might go so far as to say the Steelers should be expected to win in Kansas City against the Chiefs next week, so I'm OK with the notion that anything less than a trip to the AFC championship would be a disappointing end to a season that seemed to be full of promise.
It wouldn't be a great look for the Steelers if they fell short of the AFC championship, no doubt. They're better than the Chiefs, but a loss also wouldn't be the end of the world, as long as they beat the Dolphins. There is a window for this group led by Roethlisberger to win a Super Bowl, but I believe that window doesn't close when this season ends. So, an early exit isn't the final chapter.
This year probably belongs to the Patriots, who get a virtual double-bye considering their divisional-round opponent (Raiders or Texans) will feature a bad quarterback. But I do think the Patriots' window probably is closing because I can't imagine Brady _ five years older than Roethlisberger _ has many more years at the top left in his arm.
The Steelers will have a chance to win another Super Bowl with Roethlisberger under center. I just don't think it will happen this year, and that's OK.
