The Pittsburgh Steelers can’t escape the spotlight and the pressure of being a team that competes for a championship. According to Aaron Rodgers, there’s about six teams that have a legitimate chance to play for a Super Bowl and 10 to 12 teams that have an outside chance. Rodgers believes the Steelers are one of those 10 to 12 teams. Way to go in adding more pressure for this team to win this year.
The problem with Rodgers’ statement about the Steelers being one of the 12 teams that have an outside chance is that Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game in nearly a decade. Why is this the year they’re all of a sudden going to figure it out? They have an aging team and a bunch of guys that are probably not going to be on the roster past this season.
I believe the Steelers have a chance to be a playoff team and go on a decent run, but they’re not one of the 10 teams that could compete for a championship this year, I don’t see that just yet and a stretch to be one of the 12.
Grade the take: C-
Aaron Rodgers claims for the Pittsburgh Steelers only amplifies pressure to win this season
Of the 32 NFL teams, the 10 that realistically could compete for a championship this season are: Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings.
I guess maybe, if you stretch it to 12 the Steelers could be in there, but that’s a stretch. The Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals are two teams with a lot of potential to go on a playoff run, but have struggled in recent years to make teams fear them.
Pittsburgh’s inability to win in the postseason over the last eight-plus years is part of the reason why they really don’t have a chance to go on a championship run. Especially with a team like they currently have. They’re putting all their faith in a 41-year-old quarterback with an aging defense.
The offseason moves they made were lateral at best for them. They didn’t really make any big moves that scares teams. Jalen Ramsey wasn’t really an upgrade when they already had Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr. Rodgers really isn’t an upgrade from Russell Wilson a year ago and thinking one of Juan Thornhill or Chuck Clark are going to be better in the secondary than Minkah Fitzpatrick probably isn’t right either.
This team can be good, but they’re a fringe Super Bowl worthy team. They’re certainly not in the top six contenders entering the year. That could change, but Rodgers setting high expectations for the Steelers is bound to slap them in the face at some point.