Sportsnaut
When the Pittsburgh Steelers were 1-0, fans were already starting to envision Aaron Rodgers leading them on a journey to the playoffs. Now that the Steelers fell to 1-1 with a loss to the Seattle Seahawks, alarm bells are ringing.
While Rodgers had a strong four-touchdown debut, he looked more like a 41-year-old QB in Week 2, finishing with just a 54.5% completion rate to go with two interceptions. But he wasn’t and isn’t the only problem brewing in Pittsburgh.
Recently, ESPN NFL experts Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler cast extreme doubt on the Steelers’ plan for success. Namely, they’re taking issue with the age of a defense that’s showing signs of slowing down. In fact, Fowler believes the age of the Steelers’ defense has become even “more glaring now” that the season has started.
Deservedly so, as the Steelers have a 36-year-old starting defensive tackle in Cameron Heyward and a 34-year-old starting cornerback in Darius Slay. Plus, T.J. Watt and Jalen Ramsey are already turning 31 next month.
Graziano went on to say that the defense has looked “lousy” so far, while adding that they’ve been “extremely disappointing.” While he had concerns about the team heading into the year, Graziano needs “to see some encouraging signs soon.”
That’s fair, but we’re also only two games into the season. That gives these vets plenty of time to get their legs under them, but as the ESPN analysts cautioned, what if the Steelers never do round into top form?
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