Steelers making surprising playoff run
The Pittsburgh Steelers were expected to be a pretty good team by most prognosticators in the preseason. Many felt that the trio of running back Le’Veon Bell, wide receiver Antonio Brown and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would be enough to propel Pittsburgh into the playoffs, either as a wild card team or AFC North champs.
Then, in Week 3 against the St. Louis Rams, Roethlisberger went down. Roethlisberger crumpled to the ground after getting hit in the side of his right knee, which buckled and sent him to the turf in pain. The former 2004 first-round draft pick was carted off the field at Edward Jones Dome that day, and most assumed he would be lost for the season.
Instead, Roethlisberger only had a significant sprain of his MCL, putting him out 4-6 weeks. At that point, it became clear the Michael Vick only had to hold the fort as the backup quarterback. Vick has been miserable, and yet Pittsburgh finds itself at 4-2 and right in the thick of the AFC playoff picture.
In fact, the Steelers are one of only 10 teams across the entire National Football League with a winning record. They are two games off the pace in the AFC North, with the Cincinnati Bengals suddenly looking like a dominant team with quarterback Andy Dalton getting the job done.
Still, Pittsburgh is rolling. The Steelers were a rare underdog at Heinz Field last week against the Arizona Cardinals, but were still able to win convincingly. Even more incredible was third-string quarterback Landry Jones, who engineered the victory after Vick left the contest with a partially torn hamstring.
It is considered likely that Jones will start this week against the Kansas City Chiefs, who at 1-5 might be the most disappointing and pathetic team in football. The Steelers do not have a great secondary, but it will not matter against an offense that refuses to throw the ball more than three yards at a clip with Alex Smith under center. Factor in that the Chiefs might be without top receiver Jeremy Maclin (concussion) and certainly without Jamaal Charles (torn ACL), and Kansas City should be ripe for the picking.
The only fly in the ointment could be Kansas City’s pass rush, which includes 2014 sack champion, Justin Houston. The Chiefs are a very scary defensive team, and combined with the crowd noise at Arrowhead Stadium, Jones will have to be laser focused to avoid momentum-turning mistakes.
Pittsburgh looked to be dead halfway through its third game, and instead appears to be a contender. Head coach Mike Tomlin and the rest of the players and staff deserve plenty of credit for a job very, very well done.
