NFL Disappointment Power Rankings: 5 Biggest letdowns at Week 7
By Steve Rivera
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a team that many thought would be a challenger in the AFC North. That may still come to pass, but entering the bye week, the Steelers are a team teetering on the brink. At 2-4 and only 1-1 in the division, there is still time to make a run.
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But who would have thought this? Entering the 2019 season, the conventional wisdom was that having shed malcontents like Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, a tumultuous locker room would find some peace, some consistency, and more wins. The loss of Ben Roethlisberger hasn’t helped, but even with him, they were dismantled by the Patriots 33-3 and lost two close games to both Seattle and San Francisco.
It just hasn’t worked out in the Steel City. Pittsburgh is down to second-year quarterback Mason Rudolph and when he went down to an injury, he was replaced by Devlin Hodges.
All that said, there now looks to have been bigger issues in Pittsburgh going back to last season. The question was whether the loss of AB would be a blessing or a curse. The jury is still out on that, but head coach Mike Tomlin might finally be reaching the end of the road.
The Steelers don’t scare anyone anymore and, in a division that’s absolutely winnable, 2019 might wind up being a lost campaign.