By Tim Clark / / Column, Tim's Two Cents
Two

Remember when I said the Steelers had a ceiling of eight wins this year?

Remember when, after a week one slopfest victory in Atlanta, I doubled down on my prediction?

Remember when I said I didn’t see three more victories on their schedule after a flatlining loss to New England where they mustered all of three points?

Right, receipts. You’ve got them.

Would you believe I was abducted by aliens who took over my column?

No?

How about that I confused the Pittsburgh Steelers with the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Not buying that one either?

Okay, I admit it. I had this team and this season wrong.

I still don’t think the Steelers are a great team. Lucky for them, I don’t know if there are any great teams in the NFL. Once thought to be a questionable offense, the Steelers have scored the ninth most points in the NFL. Not bad for an offense with three offensive linemen that are new or in different positions, an ancient quarterback, a number one receiver who can’t catch, and a number two receiver that is whoever is healthy enough to take the field.

Let me lay out five reasons why the Steelers are 6-2 at the half way point in the season with a chance to have their best season in a decade.

  1. The defense has been really good. Granted, the Steelers have really only played one team with a high powered offense. The good news is they won’t play many more. They play the Bengals again and have Jacksonville on the schedule. Otherwise, the rest of the schedule will look fairly similar to what they have played so far. Joey Porter, Jr. would  obviously make a difference in the secondary. Still, the others have played well. Jalen Ramsey looks revitalized in the hybrid role he is playing. The front three plus the edge rushers have been excellent, and the middle linebackers —once a weakness— are playing their best football. Sacks a plenty and bone crunching hits are making this defense look well worth the money spent on it.
  2. With a weak wide receiving corps, the tight ends —Pat Friermuth and Darnell Washington— are being used properly this year. Both are weapons in their own right. Friermuth can own the middle of the field and Washington —minus one drop last week— has been every bit the beast the Steelers dreamed of when they drafted him out of Georgia.
  3. Jaylen Warren, to use Aaron Rodgers’s own words, is putting himself in all the conversations. Conversations as in offensive player of the year, MVP, etc. Warren has been incredible. After a few years of struggling to find any room to run, Warren is taking his play to an all new level. He has always been a tough, quick dynamo. He finds the hole, hits it hard, and rarely goes down on first contact. With a passing game that isn’t very dynamic, Warren has been the star who drives the offense. He probably won’t win the MVP, but he has been invaluable for the Steelers offense.
  4. Aaron Rodgers will turn 43 soon. He is playing very solid football, better than many in the league who are far younger. Rodgers dissects defenses as well as anyone in NFL history. He has transformed his game from the big armed downfield assassin to a quick release intermediate surgeon. I worried about him staying healthy, but he has already survived some big hits. Recently he has even been moving around the pocket —and outside the pocket— more than he has since coming to Pittsburgh. The biggest positive about Rodgers is he will do whatever needs to be done in order to secure victory. All he wants to do is win.
  5. The offensive line is turning into a group of absolute maulers. The coaching staff was smart to change out the right side of the offensive line after a couple of games. Journeyman Brock Hoffman and rookie Max Iheanachor have stabilized the entire unit. Troy Fautanu still gets beat a bit too much at left tackle, but overall this group has been fantastic. They are the biggest reason the offense is clicking as much as it has this season. Opening lanes for the running backs and largely keeping Rodgers clean.

The biggest change didn’t make my five point list.

Coaching.

I was happy for the change from Mike Tomlin. Everything was incredibly stale, and Tomlin’s coaching staff was high school level. I wasn’t thrilled with the hire of Mike McCarthy, but was ready for a change of voice at the very least. I am still not totally sold on McCarthy, but there is no doubt the coaching and schemes are far better than the past decade of Tomlin and his lackey assistants.

McCarthy was willing to quickly make the change on the offensive line. His offensive play calling has never been questioned, and it is night and day better than whatever the last three simple minds Tomlin had calling plays were doing. We also witnessed a successful challenge that most didn’t even see. That never happened under Tomlin, who rarely had success challenging calls.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is easily the best DC in Pittsburgh since the great Dick Lebeau left town. It took a minute for the players to adapt to his calls and schemes, but he is clearly getting the most out of this unit.

Whether you — like me— still don’t totally believe in McCarthy, the fact that he was willing —and had the ability— to hire a quality staff makes this a huge upgrade.

I certainly don’t want to jinx the Steelers, but check out their remaining schedule.

  • @Cincinnati- returning from a game in Spain.
  • @Philadelphia- no Jalen Hurts and have almost packed it in already.
  • Denver- Black Friday
  • Houston
  • @Jacksonville
  • Baltimore- with maybe the corpse of Johnny Unitas at quarterback.
  • Carolina
  • @Tennessee
  • @Baltimore- the corpse may have been rendered to ash by this point.

The Steelers will most likely be favored in all but two of those games. Even if they lose one we don’t expect, twelve wins is not out of the question. That would put them in a potential battle with the Bengals for the AFC North title. Certainly that would get the Steelers a home playoff game and an outside shot at the top seed in the AFC.

A month ago if you would have told me this is the column I would be writing at the midway point of the Steelers season, I would have assumed I entered the Bizzaro World. This sure is a far cry from any of my early season prognostications.

But here we are.

And here we go.

To what could be a really fun second half of the season.

Tweet of the Week

Two of everyone’s favorite Steelers chimed in, as only they can, on the issues with DK Metcalf.

 

 

 

 The Weekly Shiny Penny

This play was so good let’s look at it twice. Mark Bowman. Freshman. Stud.

 


 


A Penny For My Final Thoughts…

Why wait for tonight’s silly reveal of the first CFP rankings, when I can give you my silly Two Cent top 12 for this week.

  1. Miami- The ACC is watching out for the Canes. Only test happens Saturday in South Bend.
  2. Georgia- The most complete team in the country.
  3. UCLA- Not sure they are all that great, but undefeated is undefeated.
  4. Utah- See above.
  5. Kentucky- No, this isn’t basketball. Tough stretch to end season.
  6. BYU- Another team that probably isn’t all that good. Good win vs Notre Dame.
  7. Notre Dame- A loss Saturday should end the Irish playoff hopes. Join a conference.
  8. Indiana- Talk about an exceptionally shaky one loss team.
  9. Wake Forest- Who? The Deacons are on their way to a one loss season and ACC Championship Game.
  10. Texas- Texas could be one of a couple three loss teams that make playoffs.
  11. Ohio State- I think the Buckeyes will survive with a backup quarterback. Mostly at home for final stretch.
  12. Boise State- They won’t be ranked here, but they have this playoff spot on lock after surviving Texas State.

SEC teams that can still get in: Tennessee, Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU

Big Ten teams still in it: USC, Oregon, Iowa

Big 12 teams still with a chance: Texas Tech

A lot is yet to be decided, but I’m pretty sure we will see at least one team make the playoffs with three losses.

Just my two cents…