Week 1

As another season of the National Football League (NFL) dawns on the horizon, football fans everywhere will gladly offer you their thoughts and predictions for their favorite team’s upcoming seventeen-week journey, whether you asked for it or not. No matter where you are or who you talk to, one proclamation will seem to reverberate around: “This year is our year”. For some fanbases, these claims are valid; if you happen to find yourself near a Patriots or Eagles fan, then you might just have to hear them out. However, if you hear this from a Dolphins fan, you can safely laugh off their prediction and move on with your day. Throughout the course of this blog, I will focus specifically on my favorite NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, examining their gameplay, roster adjustments, and injuries as they begin their quest to sit atop the NFL with a record seven Super Bowl titles.

Quite a bit of buzz swirled around the Steelers organization even before summer training camp began, which was held at Saint Vincent College, Pennsylvania. Most notably, their former  running back Le’Veon Bell’s agreement to sign a four year, $52.5 million contract with the New York Jets, as well as wide receiver Antonio Brown’s newly signed three year, $54.125 million with the Oakland Raiders. Le’Veon Bell refused to play for the entirety of the 2018 season, as he felt that the Steeler’s use of the franchise tag, and therefore lower salary, was disrespectful to the talent that he brought to the organization. A three time member of the Pro Bowl, Bell led the league in touches in 2017 with 406. Leaving with a similarly fed-up attitude with the Steelers organization, Antonio Brown had strained relations with the team for the entirety of the 2018 season, skipping meetings, missing practices, and lashing out at teammates; some reports claim that these incidents were covered up for multiple seasons prior. A seven time Pro Bowl selection, Brown left the organization in second place in catches, yards, and touchdowns, only behind legendary Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward. To many Pittsburgh fans, it appeared that the 2019 Steelers would be a mere shell of the offensive powerhouse they used to be.

Although the NFL regular season does not start until September 5th, the five-week exhibition preseason has offered Steelers fans a bit of a glimpse of what the 2019-2020 season may hold for the Steel City. Although it is difficult to translate preseason performances into a regular season record, as the starting lineups are often times rearranged and new offensive strategies tested, the Steelers finished with a promising 3-1 record, dropping only one game to the Carolina Panthers on August 29. Despite the loss in the preseason finale, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin described the preseason as overall a successful few weeks, assuring reporters at Steelers.com that he is “excited for the season” and that the Steelers will have “no excuses” to justify losses.

As a Steelers fan, I am quite optimistic for the upcoming season, despite the offseason blows of losing Bell and Brown. The young offensive duo of James Connor (running back) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (wide receiver) displayed more than enough play-making ability last season to convince me that, with a veteran quarterback such as Ben Roethlisberger at the helm, the Steelers offense will not disappoint. On defense, the team looked surprisingly sharp, playing with a more comfortable style and holding opposing offenses to under seventeen points a game on average. Despite star linebacker Ryan Shazier still sidelined after a horrific back injury almost two years ago, the defense seems to be coming together as a much more effective and and devastating unit compared to last year. Overall, the 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers season promises to be a good one, so sit back, relax, and countdown the days until kickoff!