Steelers Breakdown from PennLive.com

In the days after yet another lopsided playoff loss, this one a 17-31 snow job vs. the Bills, any Steelers suspense that Mike Tomlin was going anywhere quickly evaporated. Steelers players had his back, and the Rooney family, which has employed just three head coaches since 1969, would soon have a multi-year contract extension ready. Various NFL insiders were tipped to these developments after Tomlin abruptly walked out of a postgame press conference just as a reporter posed a question about his future. Since then, all the hot takes that it was time for Tomlin to take a break or take his leave have turned cold. 

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The Steelers have that look. It’s the appearance of a team no one wants to face in the playoffs. Pittsburgh is playing smash mouth in the ground game and hitting the splash play downfield when defenses stack the box. A huge part of the Steelers’ recent success is QB Mason Rudolph running the offense effectively – and utilizing receiver George Pickens as the team’s most dangerous weapon. 

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Kenny Pickett won over the Pittsburgh fanbase long before he ever won the Steelers’ starting job at quarterback. This is why the second-year player out of Pitt has suffered so badly by comparison with third-stringer-come-starter Mason Rudolph. The latter’s ability to execute the offense the way it was meant to operate has been jarring. True-blue Pickett protectors are now confessing their second thoughts over whether he’s really the long-term answer for the Steelers. 

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With four games left in the 2023 regular season, the Steelers currently hold the No. 6 seed in the AFC. But you’ll have to forgive Steelers Nation if it doesn’t take the bait. Witnessing the Steelers making NFL history with back-to-back home losses to 2-10 Arizona and New England seemed to take everything out of this fanbase. Unlike so many Pittsburgh playoff pushes of the past, they don’t have that feeling their team is going anywhere, much less to the Super Bowl.

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The uninspiring streak Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin is best known for is his 16 years and counting of ‘non-losing seasons.’ Notice, the operative term is ‘non-losing season.’ A streak of winning seasons has a much better ring to it. But this can’t be applied to Tomlin. 

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Kenny Pickett’s Steelers career hung in the balance not even two years removed from being drafted at pick 20 in 2022. By the time the hated Cleveland Browns and their rookie passer celebrated their 13-10 win on the Acrisure Stadium turf on Nov. 19, Pickett had gone from looking hesitant and unsure to beaten down and nearly broken. There were no fourth-quarter heroics from Pickett this time.

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The big breaking news out of Cleveland is Browns QB Deshaun Watson is out, headed for season-ending surgery on a broken bone in his throwing shoulder. Enter Cleveland backup PJ Walker to face TJ Watt and the Pittsburgh pass rush. Good luck! 

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Don’t look now, but the Steelers’ offense, once given up for dead, just might have something going. The running game, particularly the hole-hitting pop of undrafted Jaylen Warren, is chewing up clock and yards. Much-touted No. 1 draft pick, tackle Broderick Jones, is making a strong case to be installed as the starter, albeit at right tackle, for the second half of the season.

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In wake of a 20-10 home loss at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars – and the referees -- the listless Steelers limp into the Thursday night game vs. the Tennessee Titans at Acrisure Stadium. They are bruised, battered and embarrassed. 

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A thrilling and nearly flawless fourth quarter by QB Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh offense supposedly marked a turning point for these 2023 Steelers. After finally firing on all cylinders, Pickett, coordinator Matt Canada and running backs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris are ready to turn it on and turn it up for a full game against the Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. So goes the gushing narrative coming out of a Terrible Towel-filled SoFi Stadium in wake of the Steelers’ 24-17 come-from-behind win vs. the Rams

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