Five NFL teams poised for a fall in 2015
By Andrew Garda
The Pittsburgh Steelers played far better at the end of the season than they were early and their four-game win streak got them into the playoffs and won them the division. Unfortunately, they lost to their AFC North division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens in what was close to a rout.
This team made it as far as they did by getting carried offensively by Le’Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger, both of whom had career years. ‘Big Ben’ tied a career high in touchdowns with 32 and tied his second lowest interception total with nine. His 4,952 passing yards were his highest ever though, while his 408 completions and 608 attempts were career highs as well.
I expect Roethlisberger to come back down to earth in a big way, and that’s going to make things much tougher this season, especially in a division which is getting more and more competitive.
What the Steelers need to hope is Bell comes back from his knee injury at 100 percent because the Steelers looked like a whole different team without him in the game. Bell benefitted from an improved offensive line, which played better than it had in a long time, even if the overall improvement was modest. It isn’t a great offensive line, but it is a decent one.
Still, an expected regression from the quarterback position and the uncertainty around the running back (and lack of depth) is a concern. DeAngelo Williams is a nice addition, but when is the last time he has looked good?
The defense is older for the most part and was already a middle-of-the-road unit at best. They were No. 18 overall defensively and No. 27 against the pass, allowing 30 touchdowns through the air (tied for fourth) and generating just 11 interceptions (tied for No. 25 overall).
On the plus side, they were No. 6 against the run, though they saw the third fewest amount of attempts in the NFL.
Which makes sense, as bad as they were against the pass.
This team hasn’t added anyone on defense, which is a concern. An awful lot of their starting lineup are 27 years old or more, with just Cameron Heyward, Ryan Shazier and Stephon Tuitt the only three 250 or under.
The secondary has two very old players in Troy Polamalu and Mike Mitchell, leaving the safety position a concern as well. Forget age though—this secondary was awful, by and large.
And that’s the issue. This was a defense with a lot of issues last year against the pass and they did nothing really to change or improve that.
Especially against some of the teams they face this year. Aside from the teams in the AFC North, Pittsburgh faces the Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots—all of whom can throw the ball.
It doesn’t really look all that hopeful for the Steelers and in fact looks like they are primed for a fall.
Next: Houston Texans