By: Mike Pelaia

After the 31 point loss to the Eagles, there are many things that can be said about the shortcomings of the black and gold on Sunday afternoon.  I could sit here and talk about the defense and how they allowed a rookie QB to pass for 301 yards and two touchdowns. I could talk about that same defense and discuss how they didn’t get one single quarterback sack, didn’t cause a turnover and how they allowed 426 total yards.

I could move on to the offense that inexplicably had a total of 29 rushing yards. How Big Ben looked lost as the pocket collapsed around him or how Markus Wheaton completely forgot how to catch the football in his first game back from injury.

I could talk about the coaching and how for some reason they allowed Antonio Brown to field punts, albeit by fair catching or I could discuss how the coaches allowed Big Ben and Brown to stay in the game as they were down by over 30 points late in the fourth quarter, risking the season in a game that was already decided. 

I could talk about how the Steel Curtain is not back, how the offense looks overrated this week or how this team looks light years away from a championship caliber team. 

I could do all of that….but I won’t.

Much like after their first win of the season, I’ll talk about how one game doesn’t make a season. The Steelers aren’t as bad as they showed Sunday evening. They are not 34 points worse than the Eagles, they are not an offense who can’t score and while the defense certainly is not the Steel Curtain, they also are certainly not as bad as the team that took the field in Philadelphia.

Things can only go back up after such a debacle. LeVeon Bell comes back this week, Bud Dupree later in the season and you know that Big Ben won’t have another game so poorly played, he’s far too competitive and far too talented to allow that to happen again.

This team will rise back up; don’t allow the game to map the remainder of the year. More importantly the Steelers themselves can’t let the game determine the season. Any Given Sunday is a common phrase thrown around the league but it couldn’t be more fitting this week. 

By: Mike Pelaia

Two weeks into the season, the Steelers find themselves a perfect 2-0 with the 2-0 Eagles on the horizon for the intrastate matchup between the two teams formerly combined and known as the Steagles in the 40’s. 

After two weeks it’s quite apparent this Steelers team is good with the potential to be great. Many of the power rankings (which admittedly mean nothing) have them in the top spot.  Their offense seems to be one of, if not the best in the league. While they were not without their struggles on Sunday vs. the hated Bengals, they still managed to put up 24 points. 24 points with Big Ben having an off day and A.B. only grabbing four balls for 39 yards.  But as Ben put it in the press conference after the victory, “It’s not all about A.B.” In other words, this team is a team and as long as they win, they shouldn’t care how they do it. Also, it can be interpreted as a message to A.B. who appeared unhappy on the field at times with his stats not adding up to what he would probably deem acceptable numbers for himself.  

But this team has weapons everywhere. DeAgnelo Williams is proving he can be a workhorse and while LeVeon Bell will be back after next week, it sure does feel pretty good to have a guy like Williams on the roster. So much so that I believe the Steelers can and should ease Bell back into the mix. Williams is running so well at this time that there is no reason to rush Bell back into a full load too early. 

The defense is also playing pretty well to date too as they have only permitted two touchdowns in eight quarters. Hard to complain about that. While some have called them the next Steel Curtain, I’m not quite ready to anoint them. They still aren’t getting the sacks that I think they’ll need to sustain long term success as they proceed through the remainder of their schedule, I personally do not yet fully put my trust into a secondary whose number one cornerback is William Gay and number two cornerback is Ross Cockrell and lastly, Bud Dupree, their best outside linebacker hasn’t even taken a snap yet. Will this defense continue to improve and gel into a championship caliber unit? Time will certainly tell but it’s obvious they do have the potential to do so. 

Two games certainly don’t make a season but they can give you some insight into it and thus far all of Pittsburgh should be happy with what they’ve seen. Time now for the team to go back on the road and to continue playing at a high level and building upon that success as they traverse through the next 14 weeks.

By: Mike Pelaia

It took a quarter to warm up, at least offensively but once they got going, the Pittsburgh     Steelers, led by Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and DeAngelo Williams; were unstoppable.  The trio amassed 300 yards passing with 3 TD’s (Ben), 126 receiving yards and 2 TD’s (A.B.) and my personal pick for player of the week DeAngelo Williams amassed 143 rushing yards, 28 receiving yards and 2 TD’s. 

Let’s also recognize that these accomplishments were all done without LeVeon Bell, Markus Wheaton or LaDarius Green.  Stepping up into the spotlight, other than Williams was young receiver named Eli Rogers.  The Steelers seem to be churning out receivers in recent years and this kid Rogers may be the next in a long line of great ones.  He six balls for 59 yards and a TD and that TD catch, while not intended for him, was a phenomenal grab, bouncing around off of helmets and hands before being gracefully snagged by the young Rogers for the score.

This team looks like they can easily score 30 points a game and once they got going; there really was no stopping the Ben to Brown combo. They are clearly on the same page at all times and quite frankly they play flawlessly together. It’s quite enjoyable to watch. 

Brown is pacing to be the greatest receiver in Pittsburgh history and will surely shatter all the records on what appears to be his way to a Hall of Fame career. 

While it’s only one week and anything can happen along the way, you have to be pretty excited right now if you’re a Steeler fan. They can score with anyone but will surely get a tougher test this week as they host the arch rival Bengals for the first time since the ugliest game of the year in the playoffs last season. 

The Steelers think they can score at least 30, I think they can too, I doubt Cincinnati agrees and they’ll surely be out for revenge. This will be a battle for the ages and is about as important a game as can be in week two of the NFL Season. The winner moves to 2-0 while the loser already falls a game back. 

Get ready, Sunday is coming fast…