Looking back at this past '22 season

Personally, I think it was a very successful season. Yes, we fell short of the playoffs. I think having a foundation to build upon in the future superseded making the playoffs. Making the playoffs would've been icing on the cake. It was ultimately a rebuilding year and this squad bottomed out at 2-6 at the halfway point. With the exception of TJ's return, which helped bolster the Defense, I'm just not sure who made the decision to rely mostly on Harris and Warren pounding the rock. It wasn't beautiful football by any means, but this was the closest to the style of the 90's that we'll see in a long time. They won their last 7 of 9 games and 6 of 7 games. Frankly, as this team stands now (lets say Muth is healthy for argument's sake) and the current growth if we were replay the first 8 games, I'm very sure they're not starting 2-6. There was growth on an individual level, position level and unit level. Pickens, Muth, Harris, Warren, Conner, this OLine and Pickett are only going to get better.

It was fun while it lasted.

 

Here’s who we beat the 7 wins just for context

Saints 7-10
Colts 4-12-1
Falcons 7-10
Panthers 7-10
Raiders 6-11
Ravens 10-7 without Lamar
Browns 7-10

They certainly played better than at 2-6 but they beat nobody…..

 

Umm. They won 9 games.

 

I was referring to the post about the 7 out of 9 final wins. I know how many games the Steelers won but thank you for the intelligent response.

 

It’s OK to be optimistic. It’s OK to be happy about wins, regardless of who they are against.

 

All those teams beaten proves that the Steelers were an average team which is proven by the 9-8 record. Doesn't change the fact that guys like Harris & TJ got healthy and the offense forged an identity and there's things to build upon.

 

No I agree better to win against anyone than lose but the numbers don’t lie. We benefited from an extremely easy schedule down the stretch.

 

But I've also seen teams that started 2-6 say alksdjf it and quit and end up 5-12 as opposed to finishing strong.

 

Hopefully the momentum carries over to next year. We are picking 17th but have the Bears 32….

 

Some people are not happy unless they're miserable.

 

I'm not one that buys into momentum carrying over. Will be many different players and such... The big thing is we have a solid run game and will probably still have a top 15 defense. Improve the weaknesses via FA and the draft and hope that Kenny takes a leap.

 

Didn't we beat the Bengals first game of year?

 

Yes and the Bucs. I was referring to the 7 out of 9 after the 2-6 start…..

 

We basically beat one good team all year which was game 1 vs Cincy when Burrow had 5 turnovers after missing all of camp with surgery……… there ya go for the folks wanting to see the entire season.

 

I know right. We won 9 games in a season where at one point it looked like we may only win a few. I’m sure everyone is well aware of the quality of the teams we won against. We’re not at the level to compete with the good teams yet, but the way we finished give’s hope for better things to come next season.

 

I don’t consider any season where you miss the playoffs a successful season. They finished 26 out of 32 in offense and for me that’s just not good enough if you wanna seriously compete for a championship with the teams in the AFC like the Chiefs,Bills, and Bengals. Keeping things the same will do nothing for this team in terms of improving them overall. You gotta get rid of Canada now and not wait around. The time to do it is now and if you wait around it’s gonna be too late. This offense averaged 18 points a game and you’re not going anywhere and it’s not gonna help Kenny Pickett get better and take that next step.

 

NFL is an offense first league look at the top 4 teams in the NFL KC Philly Buffalo Cincy all top of the league in O. Steelers can’t get to the top with this college style Canada offense.

 

I'm only happy when it rains.

 

Better move to Seattle then.

 

Let’s add in some of those close losses as well

Patriots by 3 (14-17)
Jets by 4 (20-24)
Dolphins by 6 (10-16)
Bengals II by 7 (30-37)
Ravens I by 2 (14-16)

If the Steelers had a more experienced offense from the start it’s hard to imagine not winning any or all of those games.

The only games they really were out of from the get go was the Bills and Eagles.

This team was rebuilding and supposed to be a 5 or 6 win team. The positive from the season is that the rebuild may be closer than we thought.

 

You forgot one part to that. Some people are not happy unless they’re miserable and everyone else around them is miserable as well

 

This was a tough uphill battle, and the Steelers did battle through it.
I've alluded to my dissatisfaction that during the 'good Ben years' - they never went out and 'nabbed THAT guy' the player that would push them over the top.
But this year, they overcame quite a lot.
It's not apologizing, its credit where credit is due.

 

AB/ Le'vean Bell were not over the top? That guy?

 

Absolutely not.
I am saying for example the 49ers/Deion Sanders deal. When they needed that last piece, they went out and got Deion Sanders (makes me sick, I hate that guy but he shut down the Cowboys and the 49ers got a SB)
The Cowboys got Hailey
The Packers brought in White

So when you have a roster that includes Bell and Brown and all those others, you can afford to grab that special player where you are weakest.. icing on the cake type.

 

Not good enough, looks like another Ben excuse.