The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a trendy pick to compete deep into the playoffs or even to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl following their Week 10 win over the Washington Commanders. Many were trying to be the first onboard the bandwagon, but not everyone is ready to hop on quite yet.
Domonique Foxworth was asked if the Steelers are legit Super Bowl contenders on ESPN’s Get Up this morning.
“When you said legit, that’s the one that makes me go to fiction,” Foxworth said. “If you could say Super Bowl contenders, I’ll be like ‘Yeah, they get in the tournament and maybe they can get hot.’ But then you say legit that’s like, ‘I assume that they’re going to get there.’ No, this team is playing well now. Their defense is going to be good no matter where you put ’em or who they play against. But their offense consists of Russell [Wilson] throwing up contested balls to [George] Pickens and Mike Williams now. And that to me doesn’t feel like much of an offense.”
In Wilson’s three starts, the Steelers have averaged 30.3 points and 382.3 yards. Stacked up against other team’s season averages, that would be the fourth-best total offense and the third-best scoring offense. Yes, the deep ball has been a big part of the equation, but I don’t think it’s fair to say it has been their only reason for success, as Foxworth suggested.
“Our hangup is with their offense, and their offense hasn’t been put in a situation where they have to carry this team,” Foxworth said. “It’s gonna happen at some point in this run and certainly in a three-game run to the Super Bowl. There’s going to come a situation where you can’t just throw it up to Pickens. And I don’t think anyone believes that this offense is capable of winning that way.”
Week 10 against the Commanders was the least balanced the offense has been with Wilson in charge, but the Steelers still have 456 rushing yards over the last three weeks, and Wilson has spread the ball around to a variety of receivers way better than Justin Fields was doing over the first six weeks.
Not to mention Wilson is still settling into his starting role with the Steelers. Just three starts in, it is reasonable to expect him to get better as chemistry with his teammates and coaches increase.
Williams has barely been integrated into the offense, so there is still more room to grow in the deep passing game, too.
I don’t think the offense is a finished product by any means, and the Steelers are still managing to put up numbers to rival even the best offenses in the league. If the Steelers manage to defeat the Ravens, especially if they win in a shootout with Lamar Jackson, these last bits of critique from the media will fall out of the conversation.
