While it is customary for all 32 teams opening a National Football League season to have optimism for their prospects, four teams are in action today that are likely not going to get close to a playoff berth. The battle between the two New York teams takes place in New Jersey when the Jets and Giants tangle, and in Pittsburgh the Steelers host the Detroit Lions.
Now, having the Jets, Giants and Lions slated for season-long struggles in putting together wins is nothing new, but the Steeleers are joining them this season. Pittsburgh is entering the post Ben Roethlisberger era, and their quarterback competition is among three signal callers that wouldn’t win the starting job on 24 other teams.
Mitch Trubisky is going to start the season for the Steelers behind center. He won the competition over rookie Kenny Pickett and longtime Steelers backup Mason Rudolph.
Mason is not happy.
The man who backed up Big Ben the past four years did not think he was given the chance to earn the starting spot once the Steelers acquired Trubisky from the Chicago Bears. He wants to be traded, and with first round draft choice, the 20th player selected in this year’s draft, Pickett is in line to be the long term answer for a starting quarterback in Pittsburgh.
Pickett is a hometown product, having played college ball at the University of Pittsburgh, and is only the third quarterback the Steelers have drafted in the first round since they took Len Dawson in the 1957 draft. With the first overall selection in 1970, the Steelers selected Terry Bradshaw who was at the controls for four Super Bowl wins. In 2004, Roethlisberger was their first round choice in the same draft that had Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers were taken with the first and fourth overall picks. Roethlisberger went to the Steelers with the 11th first round choice and won the Super Bowl twice while working in the Pittsburgh backfield.
In all likelihood, Rudolph is going to get his wish and be jettisoned to a new team before the draft deadline expires this season.
The Steelers have been at or near the top of the league for most seasons since Chuck Noll showed up in 1969 and turned the Steelers from doormats to dominant. During that span, the Steelers have had only three head coaches. Bill Cowher followed Noll, and Mike Tomlin has led Pittsburgh since Cowher’s retirement in 2006. All three of those mentors have won Super Bowls while coaching Pittsburgh.
Yep, it is a proud tradition of winning football in Pittsburgh, but this year, that run of excellence seems to have hit a snag and the Steelers are slated on our charts for the rare experience of missing the playoffs..
Today, when they host the Detroit Lions to close out the NFL preseason schedule, they are favored by six points. Why? Because the Lions are consistent bottom feeders and the Steelers have a rich tradition.
That’s why.
It’s not a good reason to follow the line on this game that has seen the Steelers favorite roll swell from an opening number of three points to more than six in some spots today. This is the kind of game the Lions would love to win to give some hope to a mostly disappointed fan base. Might even sell a few more season tickets if they can cash a win in Pittsburgh.
They will want it a little more than the home team at what was once called Heinz Field, but I’m left without a strong opinion on this game that carries a bloated line and mixed messages.
At MetLife Stadium, the two long suffering New York franchises engage in their yearly summer skirmish with the public leaning the blue team’s way and the books siding with the team from New York that wears green.
When the numbers come up Jets, it is very nice to know we don’t have to bet on every game.