Pittsburgh Steelers
One wonders if Ben Roethlisberger’s heart is really in it any more. The Steelers expect him to return after he threatened to retire following the 2016 season, but it’s clear he’s on his last legs — figuratively and literally.
Then there is the Le’Veon Bell situation. He threatening to sit out the 2017 season without a new deal (April Fool’s joke, people). On a serious note, we sure hope he stays out of trouble after being suspended to start the past two seasons because he loves to smoke weed.
The Steelers still have no backup plan for Roethlisberger. If he gets hurt (again) it’s going to either be Landry Jones or Zach Mettenberger — a couple of guys whose career record combined is 2-12.
Defensively, Pittsburgh is lacking at both the pass rusher positions and cornerback. Only two of the most important spots in today’s NFL. Though the Steelers did manage to post solid overall defensive numbers last year, they gave up more than 27 points six times last year. That’s a clear sign of a problem that will only get bigger if these defensive deficiencies aren’t fixed pronto.
Finally, we must acknowledge that the AFC North is no picnic. In fact, the Baltimore Ravens appear geared up to take over as the dominant team in this division, and the Cleveland Browns look like they finally have a solid plan to rise out of the basement in the coming years.
Mike Tomlin’s team is in trouble, especially if Roethlisberger is injured early.