From Rubber to Steel

It’s Week 4, you lost to a division rival on primetime, and you face the reality you’re 1-2-1. You realize that you need a lot of help around you and you need to put your head down and win. That is exactly what the Steelers did and they’re now the second seed in the AFC. The Steelers are 5-0 since Week 4, and they aren’t just winning games, they’re dominating. How did the Steelers get this far?

Le'Veon Bell is dead to this team.

With the deadline for Le’Veon Bell to be eligible for the season ending November 13, it looks like he is nowhere in sight. The Steelers coaching staff would have to deal with a headache if he came back. You know he is talented, but do you play him? He is too good to be a third down back, but James Conner is in full stride and doing enough to keep the offense afloat. You also need to look at what happened to Dez Bryant, will Bell be healthy enough to play? If I’m Le’Veon and I care for this team and myself, I don’t show up. I know the city of Pittsburgh is against me and I will be a distraction when I come back. It is over Le’Veon, do this team a favor, stay home and prepare for next season.

Mike Tomlin has control.

When the Steelers defeated the Falcons 41-17, Mike Tomlin was irritated with the penalties that were called. He said some of the calls were, “a joke,” and said, “these penalties are costing people games and jobs.” I’m assuming he was referring to the horrible roughing the passer call on T.J. Watt during the game. Tomlin was fined a few days later by the league for his comments. He is on the rules committee and he lashed out against the calls and stood up for his players. With the dominate win and those comments, I’m sure most of the players were proud to play for him. Sure, he struggles against Bill Belichick, but everyone does. Tomlin has a .709 winning percentage (36-19) after a loss. In other words, when the Steelers lose a game, they have approximately a 71 percent chance to win under Mike Tomlin the following week. Mike Tomlin knows how to pick his team up when they’re down. Yes he has players like Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, but they grew up under Tomlin. He may finally have a defense to build off as well. There is a reason Tomlin is ranked so high, he’s a players coach.

Ryan Shazier

From walking out to the podium in the NFL Draft to sitting on the sidelines, Ryan Shazier is hope in human form. After his grueling injury against the Bengals last season, he is slowly recovering and wants to play football again. He is always trying to pump up the defense before the game, he truly is a team player. Everyone wants him around and everyone wants to play for him. He is the representation of what this team is about. Never giving up and giving your all on every play.

Team Play at a High Level

Big Ben is currently second in the NFL with 320.89 yards per game. When not playing at Heinz Field, he is third best with 331.75 yards per game, and tied for fourth with four interceptions. That might explain why this team hasn’t lost on the road. In the last four weeks, Ben has thrown only one interception. The tight ends are a key component in the Steelers offense. Jesse James is averaging 15.6 yards per catch this season more yards than anyone on the Steelers. They also have Vance McDonald averaging 13 yards per catch. The offense is ninth averaging 11.5 yards per catch on the season. The only teams above them that are currently in the playoffs as of now are the Rams (1st), Chiefs (2nd), Chargers (4th), and Bears (8th). In the red zone, the Steelers score a touchdown 78.57 percent of the time. That is the best in the NFL. There are only four current playoff teams that crack the top 10 the Bengals (2nd), Panthers (3rd), Saints (5th), and Chiefs (6th). The Steelers are 5-1 against the top 10 teams in that stat category (Ravens twice). James Conner has filled in nicely. He is currently third in the league with 771 yards, averaging just under five yards per carry. He has really helped Big Ben in the passing game because teams now have to game plan against Conner as well.

Defensively, the Steelers have an opponent third down conversion percentage of 36.94 percent, ninth best in the league. They’re 3.61 percent behind the second ranked Jets and first ranked Vikings are at 25.74 percent. The Steelers are also ranked fifth in opponent yards per play at 5.2. The Steelers have the best yards per completion of the current playoff teams at 9.9 (3rd overall). They are fourth in rushing yards per game and third best among current playoff teams. In their last three games, the Steelers have gave up 18.1 points per game. That is currently sixth best in the league. T.J. Watt is tied for eighth in the league with eight sacks and Joe Haden is tied for seventh with seven passes defensed. The Steelers secondary is spreading interceptions around. Mike Hilton, Joe Haden, Cameron Sutton, and Terrell Edmunds have one interception a piece. The linebackers are also in the mix, Vince Williams and Bud Dupree each have one pick as well.

As a team, they’re 3-0-1 on the road, 3-0 as underdogs (all road games), 3-1-1 against their division, 2-0 after a loss, and have the fifth best record against the non-division teams at 3-1. They’ve really come together since their 1-2-1 start.

Everyone is losing.

The Steelers are getting extra help. They are winning and everyone else is losing or struggling. The Ravens are 1-3 in the division this season and have lost three straight, while the Bengals have lost three of their last four games. They’ve been outscored 82 to 158, that’s an average point differential of 20 points pergame during that span. Let’s talk about non-division teams. The Chiefs stay hot and are 9-1, while the Patriots cooled off and lost 34-10 to the Titans on Sunday. The Patriots’ three losses have all been on the road; two of the three losses were against top defenses. They’re 4-2 against top ranked defenses this season, but they could easily be 2-4. They struggled against the Bears on the road, but won by a yard after the Bears failed to cross the goal-line on a Hail Mary. The Patriots also had a tight 27-20 win against the Texans. The Jaguars have lost five straight after defeating the Patriots and having high expectations going into the year. These losses by the Patriots may hurt them going into Pittsburgh down the road. The Dolphins are a dumpster fire right now, two wins in their last seven games. Because of all this and thanks to the Chiefs for staying on top of their division, the Steelers are now the second seed in the AFC Playoff race.

The Steelers are probably the most improved team in the league at the moment. Last year, they were exposed once Ryan Shazier went down and had to scratch and claw their way to a win. This team looks different and looks to only be going up. If the league keeps melting down the way they have been, the Steelers will be in a nice spot going into the postseason. It is still too early to tell if they will make an impact in the postseason, but this team historically has a lot of fight in them and are very good late November to December. There’s a lot of football left and they’re playing at a high level right now, can they keep the momentum going into the postseason?