Steelers Takeaways 🌗

Summarizing the #Steelers no-deal frustration.

Every year - with added emphasis this year - the front office and coaches emphasize the team wants to "win now". Now, I get it - they're not going to say they plan to tank to get a QB, etc.

But when you haven't won a playoff game in a decade, and you're fielding a highly leveraged defense every season, and you're at the top of the division every year - it's maddening to see them refuse to make a move to push them into real contention when they are often close to being real SB contenders. Now I know for some that's debatable - but that's a feeling many have.

And the draft picks. We keep discussing the refusal to trade 3rd round picks to build for the future. Well - how has that worked for them over the decade? If you can get a true starter for a 3rd in a position of need that makes you truly competitive - then IMO that's a wiser spend than on a player who can as likely be the next Kaleb Johnson as Nick Herbig.

Now, I get and respect both sides of the discussion. But after over a decade of ZERO playoff wins, when you have a 6-2 team laden with vets and quality parts - when the AFC really is up for grabs for the most part - it seemed like this was the season to make an extra move to try and make a real impact in the playoffs.

Oh well. Next year I guess. Rinse and repeat?

This is why the #Steelers needed a WR. They don’t scare anyone which hurts the run game as well - allows DBs to play man and safeties to play up - and they don’t make enough plays to make opposing teams pay for doing so. They don’t have a guy who beats man coverage. This is the story that needed fixed.

Happy Birthday to #Steelers RB Willie Parker
"To be honest I never looked on it like I was the guy. I always looked at it like I was fighting for a spot all the time. I always worked hard – I think the weight room work probably drove me out of the league. All I knew is that I never felt comfortable as an undrafted free agent. It caused me to work even harder. And any success I felt was because someone else did their job. If someone missed a block I knew I couldn’t do what I did. So, I didn’t look at it like I had made it."

steelerstakeaways.com/exclusive-with…

The #Steelers really believe they are potential contenders -it's stunning they made no moves today. They will spend a 3rd on a backup WR and backup RB, a 4th on a KR specialist - but not on a starting WR for a team on the cusp of contention.

Denver, Buffalo, Kansas City and Jacksonville - all made moves to get even better. They invested in winning. The Steelers didn't.

The #Steelers could have easily beaten this trade. Unless they have another trade in tow, they really look like an unserious front office. It's hard to take a team that considers itself a contender seriously when they don't act like it.