Steelers Wild Card Reaction

 Well all that shit I talked all week has finally come back to bite me. It's always sad when your favorite team gets eliminated, marks the end of this season of my favorite TV show. It has been a fun season though and like every other game I have some thoughts to get down here! I think this post might be pretty limited in terms of breaking down the actual game, they got smoked, it'll more be a eulogy for the season. On the plus side for me now, I get to watch the rest of the playoffs stress-free with my favorite team not in it anymore! Yay! Lets get into it: 

Thank You Russell Wilson

Could we have just seen the last game Russell Wilson plays in a Steelers jersey? I knew after Roethlisberger retired that it'd be a long journey back to stability at the QB position. After suffering a couple of seasons of Mitch Trubiski and Kenny Picket, this season seemed more promising with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both joining the team. Russ ended up taking over mid way through the season after the Steelers started 4-1 in a shocking move. He played well enough that it wasn't even questionable that he should keep his starting job. Russ at this stage of his career wasn't changing the game or making his teammates way better than they actually are. Russ was more just a good solid QB with the Steelers who rarely turned the ball over and occasionally tossed up a beautiful moonball for Pickens to go get. Coming into the season as well we knew the offense was probably going to be the worst unit on the team, and they lived up to it, but Wilson wasn't the problem. 

Russ was solid in the playoff game although he didn't really get it going until the second half. Once the Steelers got desperate, the passing game started flowing and he found receivers for a couple of TDs to make me get excited at the bar and shout that they were about to comeback. It ultimately wasn't enough to take down the Ravens, a clearly better team, but I appreciate Russ for never giving up. If he isn't back with the Steelers next year, I wish Wilson well in his next situation! I hope he lands somewhere that has actual receiver depth and shows that he still has lots left in the tank. Until we find the next franchise guy, it's back to the QB carousel for the Steelers. I will certainly look back at the Russell Wilson part of the carousel favorably.

George Pickens Bounce-Back

 I was very reasonably pissed after Pickens' last regular season game where he full on just crashed out. He bounced back in a big way for the playoffs and I have to spend some time giving him his flowers. All season long Pickens has been pretty much the only NFL caliber receiver on the Steelers roster. For as much of a headcase he can be, he certainly is talented and the Steelers had no choice but to keep running him out there week after week. We saw the offense fall to catastrophically terrible levels when Pickens missed a few weeks due to injury, proving how important he is to the team. In the wild card game, Pickens showed up to play. He had multiple big contested catches, was locked in for yards after the catch and pulled down a TD in the second half. As much of a headache that Pickens can be, these games are always so exciting and give you hope for the Steelers in the future. Next season I want to see an improved WR room. I think it can go one of two ways, either Pickens gets more open field with other threats to focus on or Pickens loses his mind having to share the workload. Either way, it promises to be really entertaining.

The End of Najee Harris? 

Never draft a running back in the first round! Najee Harris has now turned in yet another perfectly mid season. He's not a bad running back, but he's not a great one either. It sucks having spent first round draft capital on the guy expecting him to be generational but I will try to look past his draft position and just evaluate the player we had. Najee is a big bruising back with limited speed. He can hit holes for small gains but rarely gets to bust off a big one with his speed constantly holding him back. The Steelers got down early in this one and eventually the running game had to be abandoned, so hard to judge the guy off his playoffs this year, but 2.8 yards per carry is basically what we have come to expect from Najee. The Steelers didn't pick up his 5th year option to start the season generally indicating the two would be parting ways at the season conclusion. I for one am excited to get some new legs in the backfield. Najee didn't do anything wrong, he just never really had that dominant season we were expecting and on a team built to run the football and play defense, he wasn't the guy they needed. I wish you well at your next stop Najee, keep getting those 3 yard gains. 

Shout out Joey Porter Jr. 

Look, when it mattered Baltimore was able to get whatever they wanted offensively. The big playmakers on the defensive line TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith and Cam Heyward weren't able to impact the game in the way they normally do and it freed up Henry and Lamar to run wild. One guy on the defense that deserves praise is Joey Porter Jr. The second year CB has now emerged as a true lockdown guy in the secondary, something the Steelers haven't had since prime Ike Taylor. Going forward we can feel comfortable that opposing #1 WRs will have to deal with Porter for entire games and I think as the current defensive core ages out, Joey Porter will be the star that bridges the gap to the new era. Having a lock down corner is cool. 

Last but not Least: Thank you Steelers!

Fun season! I got to go to my first Steelers game week 3 against the Chargers and it was truly unforgettable. We got to get excited about a young QB in Justin Fields who hopefully is on the roster with a chance to hold the starting job all season next year. We got to feel high as Superbowl contenders with a Superbowl winning QB in Russell Wilson. We got to feel low as they limped into the playoffs losing 4 straight. A lot of discourse online about firing Tomlin and how the Steelers strive for mediocrity but I want to urge fans to take a step back and look at this season as a whole. The Steelers came into the year with 1 NFL wide receiver, 2 reclamation projects at QB, a young offensive line that started multiple rookies for more than one game this year and a running back tandem that has proven to be little more than mid. Coming into the year going 10-7 and losing in the playoffs was probably the expectation for this team, they did it, we had fun watching and I always felt like we had a chance to win every week. It's a privilege to be disappointed by your favorite sports team, look at the Raptors, nobody cares when they lose a game this year. I am going to miss tuning in every week, but I am excited to see how they improve the team in the offseason. If you've read all my Steelers reactions, thank you! I had a lot of  fun writing these this year and I like to think I got better at leaning into the emotional aspect of it all. I am not an Xs and Os guy for football at all but I do feel the game pretty hard and I like to think that shined through here.  I am not sure if I will be breaking down football for the rest of the playoffs, but I will be loading up this blog to write something most weekdays and I doubt I'll forget about the NFL so stay tuned!

And that's that! Season over, for the rest of the playoffs Go Bills!!