Get Ready for the Perfect-Season Pittsburgh Steelers Talk as Soft Schedule Awaits
Yes, it’s coming. The 1972 Miami Dolphins will be back in the spotlight as the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers continue to win. It’s still relatively early in the season but get ready for that perfect-season talk. The Pittsburgh Steelers are 7-0 and with their upcoming soft schedule, that talk will quickly heat up.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are healthy again
Last season turned out to be a disaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played in two games before missing the rest of the season with an elbow injury. The Steelers were forced to start a guy named Duck and another guy who got hit over the head with his own helmet. Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges and Mason Rudolph weren’t able to get it done at the quarterback position.
Hodges and Rudolph held down the fort, but weren’t good enough to get the Steelers into the playoffs. They weren’t bad enough to get them a top draft pick. The Steelers finished 8-8. Through seven games this year, they are a win away from matching last year’s total.
Roethlisberger has made a world of difference. The Steelers have scored at least 26 points in every game this season. Roethlisberger has also thrown at least two touchdown passes in every game but one. Big Ben has 15 touchdown passes this year and has completed 67.9% of his passes. Running back James Conner has also played in all seven games this season after missing six games last year.
The Steelers cleared a big hurdle last week
Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 7-0 and are now the lone team in the NFL without a loss. Sunday’s victory was a big one against their division rival Baltimore Ravens. Not only did it give the Steelers a cushion in the division lead, but it also was a confidence booster in defeating a high-quality team on the road.
Despite the victory, there were flaws. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger considered it an ugly win. “I don’t think at any point in this game, offensively, was it a pretty game,” he said after the game, according to ESPN. “The first half wasn’t pretty, second half wasn’t pretty. Nothing about this game was pretty from our perspective until the game was over and we looked at the scoreboard and saw that we had won. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin echoed those sentiments. “We lacked details in some areas, so we have to work to get better, to fortify ourselves for the next opportunity,” Tomlin said. “Like I always say, it is good to do that with a win. But, just much respect to Baltimore, they bring the best out in us. This rivalry is what it is. Hopefully, it was entertaining to football fans worldwide.”
Get ready for the perfect-season talk
Yes, they’ve only played seven games. They have nine more to go. The way the Pittsburgh Steelers’ schedule is set up, there will be a lot of perfect-season talk coming soon. Get ready for the comparisons to the 1972 Miami Dolphins team, the only team to go undefeated and untied in the regular season and postseason.
The Steelers are 7-0, but their next three games are at the Dallas Cowboys, home to the Cincinnati Bengals, and at the Jacksonville Jaguars. On paper, their next biggest test will be a rematch with the Baltimore Ravens, the team they defeated last week. That game will be in Pittsburgh.
The only other game that would appear to give the Steelers some trouble would be a Week 14 game at the Buffalo Bills. Other than that, the Steelers have home games against the Washington Football Team and Indianapolis Colts. They also travel to Cincinnati and end the season at the Cleveland Browns. This isn’t to say the Steelers are going undefeated. This is simply a warning that with each passing week, especially the next three weeks, that perfect-season talk will intensify.
