Early in the NFL season it is often very difficult to differentiate between the good teams and the bad, however with all teams having now played at least seven matches we can start to form a clearer picture.
Unfortunately though, there are some teams who we are still yet to figure out. The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of these teams.
The Steelers are a curious side to watch, typically a blue-collar defensive team, their ageing defence has struggled significantly at times throughout the season, instead relying on Ben Roethlisberger and the offense to carry their fortunes.
The 5-3 Steelers are ranked 12th in offensive efficiency in the league and a terrible 26th in defensive efficiency, alongside the likes of Oakland and the dreadful NFC South, who currently own the fourth lowest positions in that category.
This is not esteemed company to be with and not where the Steelers are used to sitting.
The problem for the Steelers defence is that they are overpaying ageing veterans based on performances earlier in their careers. Guys like Troy Polamalu, earning $6 million this year and over $8 million for each of the next two years, is overpaid given his production over the past few years.
He’s lost his speed and his killer instinct, meaning that he’s often guessing where the ball is going and if he guesses wrong he can no longer recover in time to prevent a big play.
Compounding the issues for the Steelers defence is that they have been crippled by injuries, so much so that they even had to lure James Harrison out of retirement. You know you’re in trouble when you’re luring James Harrison out of retirement.
Thankfully, they are starting to get healthy again. Ryan Shazier returned from injury this weekend against the Colts and Jarvis Jones is expected to return in Week 11, while cornerback Ike Taylor still hopes to return sometime in the next month following his gruesome broken arm suffered against the Panthers in Week 3.
The cavalry will return for the Steelers, but even with the defence returning to full health they are still an average defence at best and will continue to rely on the Roethlisberger-led offense for the remainder of the season.
Speaking of Roethlisberger, he has been excellent for the Steelers. While his stats aren’t otherworldly, well before Monday anyway, he has mostly taken care of the football, throwing just three intercepts through eight matches, while also fumbling the ball five times, losing three of them. When you’re playing with a subpar defence it is absolutely vital that you control the football and manage the clock on offense because you simply can’t afford to give the opposition defence the ball in good field position.
Complementing Roethlisberger’s solid play has been that of running back Le’vVeon Bell. He had the third most total rushing yards heading into Monday’s match and picked up another 92 yards against the Colts. The second year pro out of Michigan State has already compiled over 600 yards this year and is well on his way to his first career 1000 yard rushing season.
Perhaps even more crucially, though, is the fact that not only has Bell picked up consistent yards both on the ground and in the passing game, he has not fumbled the ball once.
The Steelers were definitely candidates to be another 2014 good-bad team after the first seven weeks of football, but they finally picked up a statement win over the Colts on the weekend. However, the defence was poor yet again and they can’t rely on Roethlisberger to throw for over 500 yards and six touchdowns every week.
Next Sunday night’s match-up at home against the Ravens shapes as a pivotal match-up for the team, and it could either position them for a tilt at the division title or leave the Steelers battling it out during the second half of the season for one of two wildcards.
Another team that we still can’t figure out, and looks like it will be battling it out for a wildcard, is the Miami Dolphins. They opened the season by exposing significant flaws in the Patriots’ offensive line, coach Joe Phiblin refused to back Ryan Tannehill as the starter prior to the trip to London, lost in the last seconds to Green Bay and stomped the Bears a week ago.
Sitting at 2-2, the Dolphins were the poster child of inconsistency, however they have played extremely well over the past three weeks, Tannehill has thrown for 742 yards, five touchdowns and three intercepts.
Unfortunately, Tannehill and the rest of the team were disappointing on Monday against the Jaguars. Tannehill threw for just 196 yards and the defence gave up 176 rushing yards. It is entirely possible that the Dolphins were looking past this match and thinking about next weekend’s showdown with the suddenly reeling Chargers, so let’s assume that this weekend’s match is an outlier and if it isn’t, we will know next week.
Entering the match against the Jaguars the Dolphins were ranked 10th in DVOA, ahead of the Patriots, Lions, Bengals, Steelers and Cardinals. Clearly they are a playoff-calibre football team if they can put it all together on the day. The problem is that they have struggled to do so consistently throughout the season.
The Dolphins are in quite the opposite situation to the Steelers. Whereas Pittsburgh’s offense props up the defence, it is the defence who are leading the way in Miami. The Dolphins defence has only taken four intercepts, but they have recovered seven fumbles and have the third best pass defence in the league, giving up just 213 passing yards a match.
While the pass defence has been outstanding over the first eight weeks of the season, Miami will face a huge challenge when they host Phillip Rivers and the San Diego offense next week. Rivers is averaging 276 passing yards a game, thrown four times as many touchdowns as intercepts and his average quarterback rating is over 20 points higher than Tannehill.
While the Dolphins are playing at home I think an upset over the Chargers is a bridge too far, but I have been wrong before.
A loss to the Chargers would send the Dolphins to 4-4 and place their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy. Assuming 10-6 would earn a wildcard in the AFC, the Dolphins would have to go 6-2 to finish the season if they hope to make the playoffs, highly unlikely given they have matches against the Lions, Broncos, Ravens and Patriots in the second half of the season.
Finishing 8-8 is probably more likely for the Dolphins, but if Tannehill continues to improve over the final nine matches, a strong offseason could lead to the Dolphins becoming a genuine contender next year and into the future.
Twitter: @fromthesheds
Hey, supercoach? Choose your own ultimate NFL team and compete with other players for cash prizes in daily competitions on any match. If you’re after the best odds on the NFL, PlayUp is your best bet. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
The extraordinary episodes after his life as an American Football hero quite overshadowed the career of O.J. Simpson, who has died at the age…
The Kansas City Chiefs, steered brilliamtly at the end by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, downed the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to secure…
San Francisco 49ers will make their eighth appearance in the Super Bowl after a stellar season from a team stacked with real talent across the whole line-up.
The Chiefs are no longer strangers to playing matches in February. What was once a multi-generational 50-year drought has become an almost yearly tradition.
Daniel Faalele and Mitch Wishnowsky have kept their Super Bowl dreams alive, with Baltimore and San Francisco winning the divisional round playoff.
Six-time NFL champion Bill Belichick has agreed to part ways as the coach of the New England Patriots, bringing an end to his 24-year…
