Pittsburgh Steelers Podcast | Steel City Underground

You know the old saying: Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.

No, I’m not losing it. I’m sure many of you know I’d find a way to sugarcoat this, but “this” isn’t a loss to a VERY good Dallas Cowboys team.

No, the sugarcoating is that I believe the worst is behind the Steelers, with the best yet to come. (And yes, I will criticize some things, namely the defense, from Sunday’s game.)

But to think it’s all over: there’s still a lot of football left to play.

The Steelers return to Pittsburgh, where they are traditionally FAR better than they are on the road, to face a Dallas Cowboys team which hasn’t lost a game since the first week of the NFL season.

For any other NFL franchise which has dropped disappointing losses like the Steelers, there may not be hope; but oddly, these are the types of situations that Pittsburgh thrives for: a big opponent comes into Heinz Field, for an afternoon national TV game.

We’ll discuss if Pittsburgh can derail Dallas this Sunday.

Lots of yinzing following a tough Steelers loss, a third straight loss. However, I don’t feel it’s over folks.

Far from over.

No fat lady is singing, and they’re not humming tunes of Todd Haley or Mike Tomlin getting fired either.

That’s another story, for another day (and already has been covered numerous times) so today I’m going to dig into this game, that had few positives (at least on offense) and make some fair comparisons to other times the Steelers had a rough spell, as well as some other teams in the league.

At the end of the day, somehow, I’m still optimistic about this team’s chances for 2016.

The last few seasons have seen some difficult losses to the Baltimore Ravens, but Steelers Nation have no fear, because I feel that Pittsburgh is ready to turn the corner on this rivalry, right back into their favor.

Ben is reportedly starting Sunday, other injured players are back, and the Ravens have their own problems. I may sound cautiously optimistic, given the numbers cited in this show, but I have my reasons, and will attempt to convince you why Mike Tomlin and company are done losing to sub .500 teams on the road.

It all starts this Sunday.

With the exception of a solid word about Ben Roethlisberger’s chances to play against the Ravens, Coach Mike Tomlin gave just about every other injured Steelers a full bill of health, with a chance to play on Sunday.

As for Ben, Tomlin had an interesting comment.

Pittsburgh’s going to need all hands on deck, because their record against the Ravens hasn’t been all that great lately.

More on that, and who we expect to play this weekend, on today’s show.

Colin Cowherd took to his show the HERD the other day to try and “explain how Mike Tomlin is hurting the Steelers’ chances in the AFC”.

Okay Colin… this isn’t a new topic for you, or for me, but since it’s a bye week, let’s examine: Mike Tomlin DOES NOT get a pass.

Ever.

Take one step into the city of Pittsburgh after a loss, turn on one sports radio show that Monday, and listen to all of the fans “not” giving passes.

But why?

The Steelers have one of the best coaches in the NFL, who is actually making his case as one of the greatest Steelers coaches ever as well. I know that’s tough to digest, with the team only having Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher prior to Tomlin’s arrival, but there’s a lot of credit that should go this head coach’s way: for keeping the standard, the standard.

It’s painful to talk about a loss, especially when the loss could’ve been a win, the game was competitive, AND everyone had the Steelers losing before the game was even played.

With a large numbers of starters out, limited, and in/out of this game, we should still confident in a potential rematch down the road, with a healthy team.

That’s all I’ve been asked all week, and even with 7 players ruled out (2 of them being captains) I still believe there’s a window of opportunity for the Steelers, led by Landry Jones, to shock the world.

The precedent is there for the seemingly impossible: Tomlin has been down this road before with Charlie Batch, Michael Vick, and even Landry Jones.

The precedent also exists for this defense to shutdown tight ends, and running backs, against mistake-free quarterbacks. (Hint: it just happened a few weeks ago.)

Perhaps, it’s not as bad as it seems, and fortunately, the still have to play the game: maybe, just maybe, the Steelers do stand a chance this Sunday against the New England Patriots.

I understand everyone’s frustration with losing Ben Roethlisberger to injury.

I really do.

Along with playing the Patriots, the venom spewed at Landry Jones is the biggest show of non-support I’ve seen in some time from Steelers Nation. Many are complaining that Pittsburgh has done NOTHING to address depth behind Big Ben.

However, today’s show is going to shed some light on the situation, and show fans that the Steelers probably aren’t in as bad of a situation as one might think.

What’s worse than a loss, on the road, to a one-win team?

Potenitally losing your future Hall of Fame QB for multiple games.

Don’t panic Steelers Nation: it’s not all doom and gloom… at least not yet.

Joe’s back to briefly touch on the downfalls in the Dolphins game; what went wrong, and the few things that went right, and what needs to happen to right the ship, even in the face of adversity.