Anyone who believes the Pittsburgh Steelers have hit bottom can’t be looking at the schedule that awaits a team that’s no longer capable of being physical on either side of the football. It could get much, much worse, starting this Sunday vs. the Ravens.

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So, are you missing Big Ben yet? Mason Rudolph’s play was as dreary and miserable as the Pittsburgh weather against the lowly Lions on Sunday. The quarterback once heralded by Steelers’ brass as possessing first-round talent and heir-apparent potential has proven to be a below average NFL backup, at best. This leaves the 2021 Steelers exactly where they were entering the season. Namely, hoping against hope that 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger can rally for one last rodeo. In this case, Big Ben is battling COVID-19. If he can whip the virus this week, he’ll earn the right to go up against the Chargers in Los Angeles Sunday night. That’s Ben’s reward. The Steelers’ punishment would be another start by Mediocre Mason, who didn’t have enough to break a terrible, 16-16 tie against the previously losing Lions. The West Coast trip commences a brutal stretch run for the Steelers. It comes as COVID has sidelined not just Big Ben, but also Minkah Fitzpatrick, in quarantine protocols. Who knows who’s next. But at least the virus doesn’t pick sides. Chargers’ defender Joey Bosa is also in COVID quarantine. But it’s not just the virus stinging your Steelers. A wave of injuries has swept the team. The biggest of which leaves superstar linebacker T.J. Watt questionable for the contest. This is not good for a defense that’s having trouble tackling. Despite all this, the 5-3-1 Steelers are still in the thick of things in a wide-open AFC. As slow, limited and weak-armed has Roethlisberger has looked at times, he’s by far the best answer the Steelers’ have. This is by design. The Steelers decided to forgo any succession plans at quarterback going into this season. They would ride with Roethlisberger one more time. And here they are -- still in the saddle for a playoff run. Sure, Pittsburgh has problems on both sides of the ball. They have a roster pinched by COVID and beset by injuries. They have questions that will only multiply as this season gets tougher. Yet, despite all this, they still have a chance. A chance against the Chargers. A chance to win the AFC North. A chance to make some real noise in the AFC playoffs. It’s all still right there for this team. Like so many seasons before, those Pittsburgh prospects will be largely up to one player: Ben Roethlisberger. He’s still the best chance these Steelers have. 

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Steelers’ fans absolutely love the team’s defensive theme song, ‘Renegade’ by Styx. When the ‘Coming down from the gallows’ dirge gets going, all of Heinz Field is rocking. But these days, perhaps it’s The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ that should blare from those Heinz Field loudspeakers. It would be the perfect anthem for highly skeptical Steelers’ fans as they seemingly wait for this 2021 version of their favorite football team to unravel. It has to be just a matter of time, right? The quarterback is age 39, moves like a snail and has a surgically repaired right arm that seemingly gets weaker by the week. The offensive line is a collection of no-names that still can’t get it done for their about-to-be a superstar rookie running back, Najee Harris. And the Steelers’ stellar defense apparently believes it only need play the first half of football games. No wonder Steelers’ fans are wary. The 11-0 Steelers were a mirage last season. It took a while, but they and Ben Roethlisberger’s weak-armed short-passing game were badly exposed. This time around, they’re being doubted every step of the way. The questions about Big Ben and his team on both sides of the ball are legitimate. If this 2021 version ultimately unravels, no one will be surprised. But that leaves room, albeit slim, for things to come together. For Ben to keep beating defenses that underestimate him. For this makeshift O-line to keep improving. For the defense to actually show up and finish the job in the second half – instead of mailing it in after establishing dominance in the first half. Then, these Pittsburgh Steelers would be right in the thick of things in this year’s wide-open AFC. That could just be the most surprising -- and sweetest – development of them all.What has to go right for these Steelers, you ask? We take a deep-dive into the team’s concerns and possible remedies in this ‘so-your-saying-there’s-a-chance’ edition of the Steelers Update Podcast. And be sure to check out my print column first thing Thursday on PennLive. It will be packed with plenty of memes bringing this week’s Steelers saga to life.

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Najee Harris relishes contact. Fans love it, too. He’s a workhorse running back in a league of running-back-by-committee teams. It could also be a prelude to his premature decline and fall in Pittsburgh.

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It’s a scary-good Halloween matchup that has the Steelers trying to frighten the Browns at home on Halloween. It’s unlike any contest between these once one-sided rivals in two decades. 

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Many T.J. Watt-backers in Pittsburgh are saying that his strip-sack that delivered the ball to the Steelers in overtime for the Chris Boswell field goal for the 23-20 win justifies the team in showering their star linebacker with a $110 million contract extension, including $80 million in guaranteed.

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Stick a fork in him; Ben Roethlisberger is done. Such is the cold-eyed, callous assessment of once-adoring Steelers Nation. Certainly it is, if you judge by the damning reaction on Twitter in wake of the Steelers’ season-crushing 27-17 loss in Green Bay. This time it wasn’t on the Steelers young and unproven offensive line. The Steelers’ struggles were clearly the result of their 39-year-old, future Hall of Fame quarterback’s rapidly fading skills.

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The Steelers are caught in a bizarre football lifecycle mismatch that threatens to doom the season and the foreseeable future. The team is burdened by a quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, in the winter of his years. The Steelers suffer from an offensive line that’s so embryonic it really hasn’t been born yet. Finally, Pittsburgh possesses a star running back, soon to enter with his prime. But 2021 first-round draft pick Najee Harris could be all washed up by the time this out-of-sync team gets good again

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It was classic Mike Tomlin understatement. Ben Roethlisberger took too many hits, and Najee Harris gained too few rushing yards. This is the Steelers’ moribund offense in microcosm. And the blame for it all rests squarely on the board shoulders but so-far small play of the supposedly rebuilt offensive line. 

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Get your worry beads out, Steelers Nation. All the questions that we hoped would be answered by now are still plaguing your 2021 Steelers.

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