The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent the last two decades giving their fans one steady thing to lean on: they usually don’t stay down for long. They haven’t had a losing season since 2003, and they even had to hire a head coach over the offseason for the first time since 2007. That kind of stability has shaped how this fan base sees itself.
Now comes the uncomfortable part. Pittsburgh is 1-1, but it doesn’t feel like a normal split.
The Week 1 win over the Falcons, with Cooper Rush leading Atlanta, came with an offense that looked stuck in the mud. The defense carried the day there.
Then Week 2 showed a much harsher version of this team, as New England’s defense battered Aaron Rodgers and a battered Steelers offensive line in a lopsided loss.
The deeper issue is easy to spot. Pittsburgh’s line problems are wrecking the run game, and without any real ground threat, Rodgers has to do more than he should at this stage of his career.
He used to be the kind of quarterback who could take over when everything else was shaky. That’s not the version of Rodgers the Steelers are getting now.
He needs help, and he needs it from a run game that simply hasn’t shown up.
The hard truth is that these were offseason problems, and they were supposed to be solved then. Fixing them now is a much tougher task. Quality offensive linemen aren’t exactly sitting around in September waiting to be signed, which is why the offensive struggle we’ve seen in the first two games looks like something that could hang around all season.
Louis Riddick didn’t sugarcoat any of it when he joined The Dan Patrick Show on Monday. Asked which team had the worst loss on Sunday, he went straight to Pittsburgh.
"Probably Pittsburgh... Pittsburgh looks like they could be in trouble trouble," Riddick said.
"One, they can't run the football with any kind of effectiveness to keep the pressure off of [Rodgers]. And the passing game is just so wildly inconsistent...
Where's the development going to come from for them? Where is it?
Where's the hope going to come from? ... I really do think that [the loss to the Patriots] could have been a sign of what's to come for this football team down the road."
That’s a rough read, but it’s hard to dismiss. Two games in, the Steelers do look like a team whose problems are bigger than a one-week fix.
Riddick also pointed to the coaching change, noting how much Pittsburgh used to rely on Mike Tomlin’s presence to steady things when the start got messy.
"You always really associate Pittsburgh with a team that's going to figure things out as it goes along. At least you did when Mike [Tomlin] was there and everyone says, 'Oh, it's just Week 1.
Let's everybody relax. We'll figure things out.
You know, it's just extended training camp.'... That's a big time sign."
That’s the new reality for Steelers fans to sit with: this team may not have the built-in cushion it once did. A non-losing season no longer feels automatic. If anything, the early signs suggest this could be a long year.
There may be one silver lining if things go badly enough. A finish near the bottom of the standings would put Pittsburgh near the top of the draft, something it hasn’t had in a long time. That could give the Steelers a shot at one of the coveted quarterback prospects in the 2027 draft, which might be exactly the kind of reset they need.
In Other News...
Steelers Barely Survived A Bengals Game That Made No Sense
The 1978 meeting with Cincinnati was the kind of mess that can still make a Steelers fan wince decades later, a game packed with turnovers, missed chances and almost no offensive rhythm. Pittsburgh escaped with a 7-6 win, but it was hardly a clean one, even with the season context pointing to a team that could absorb ugly stretches and keep moving toward its bigger goals.
Terry Bradshaw was blunt about his own day, acknowledging how poorly he played, while the Bengals had reasons to feel like they let one slip away. Ken Andersons side had enough chances to tilt the result, but the game kept refusing to make sense, with neither offense able to find much of a foothold. In a rivalry known for tension, this one stood out because the Steelers survived more than they won. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Blockbuster Idea Puts Joey Porter And DK Metcalf In Play
Trade chatter around Joey Porter Jr. has lingered this offseason because the Steelers still have not locked the young cornerback into a long-term contract, and no move has come close to materializing. Even so, the noise has now expanded beyond Porter alone, with a CBS Sports proposal floating a much larger framework that would pull DK Metcalf into the discussion and reshape Pittsburghs roster in a hurry.
In the hypothetical, the Steelers would send Porter, Metcalf and a 2027 fourth-round pick to Detroit in exchange for a first-round selection and receiver Jameson Williams. It is only an idea on paper, but it captures the kind of high-stakes roster math that can hover around a team trying to balance present talent with future flexibility, especially when one of its best young defenders is already part of the uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Face A Joey Porter Jr Decision That Could Change Everything
The Steelers are once again in the kind of roster conversation that can reshape a season before it truly gets going, with Joey Porter Jr. now at the center of a reported look at options. Cornerback is already one of the most watched spots on the roster, and any discussion involving Porter carries obvious weight because of what he means to Pittsburghs secondary and how much the team has invested in building around him.
One speculative scenario has Pittsburgh sending Porter, DK Metcalf and a 2027 fourth-round pick to Detroit for Jameson Williams and a 2027 first-round pick, a swap that would put plenty of moving parts in play for both sides. It is still just an idea, not an official move, but the fact that Porters name is even part of the conversation shows how aggressively the Steelers may be weighing long-term value against short-term stability. [Read more 🡒]