Steelers Now
The Steelers are off to a 3-1 start, sitting atop of the AFC North, but some pundits are skeptical of Pittsburgh. Cody Benjamin of The Ringer thinks the Steelers’ offensive success with Aaron Rodgers will not be sustainable against better teams.
“They are playing a style of offense that Rodgers, at 41 years old, surprisingly older than Joe Flacco, needs to play because he doesn’t want to get hit, can’t move with his feet anymore, can’t extend plays, he needs to get the ball out fast,” Benjamin said on The Ringer NFL Show. “When they go against better teams, ’cause I think their schedule to start the season has been very underrated easy. I think you’re going to see how much this Steelers offense is fake when you start to go against more playable defenses.”In four games, Rodgers has completed 74 of 108 passes (68.5%) for 786 yards, with eight touchdowns and three interceptions for a 102.6 passer rating. His eight TDs are tied for third in the NFL.
Rodgers has the lowest time to throw in the NFL (2.52) and the lowest average depth of target (5.2 yards) this season.
According to Next Gen Stats, Rodgers recorded an average time to throw of 2.17 seconds in the Steelers’ Week 4 win over the Minnesota Vikings, his quickest average time to throw in a game since at least 2016. On quick throws (under 2.5 seconds), he completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 174 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was an 80-yarder to DK Metcalf. Metcalf leads all NFL WRs in yards after the catch this season with 199, per Next Gen Stats.
Jason McIntyre of FS1 said luck has been the real MVP for the Steelers.
“If we’re being honest, luck is the real MVP for the Steelers,” McIntyre said on The Herd. “They got lucky that the Jets fumbled that kickoff when the Jets were dominating that game. They got lucky against the Patriots with five turnovers. And they got lucky to face Carson Wentz. Here are the quarterbacks. Steelers have beaten Justin Fields, they lost to Sam Darnold, they beat second-year quarterback Drake Maye, and they beat Carson Wentz.”
It’s hard to argue the Steelers haven’t had a soft schedule to start the season. They also have favorable matchups in their next two games after their bye week against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. Nothing is guaranteed, but on paper, the Steelers should win their next two games.
The Browns, who are 1-3, are likely to start rookie Dillion Gabriel against the Steelers in Week 6. The Steelers are 26-6 under Mike Tomlin against rookie QBs. The Browns have also not beat the Steelers in a regular season game in Pittsburgh since 2003.
Cincinnati (2-2) also looks lost without quarterback Joe Burrow, who’s sidelined for at least three months with a turf toe injury. The Denver Broncos routed the Cincinnati Bengals, 28-3, on Monday Night Football. The Bengals have been out-scored 76–13 in the two...
