PITTSBURGH — Welcome to the home of the Stale Curtain, where the battle cry appears to be, "Hey, at least we're not the New York Jets!" and every season is beginning to look the same.
I happen to admire the Steelers' never-rebuild mentality, but what is it really getting them?
They have won three playoff games in 11 years and none in the past five — their longest such streak since Richard Nixon was in office. The Houston Texans own more division titles and playoff wins than the Steelers in the past 11 years.
After missing the playoffs twice in three years, the Steelers snagged the new third wild-card spot on a miracle, only to be humiliated on national television.
They are the first team in NFL history to give up 40 or more points in three consecutive playoff games. They are 3-7 in their past 10 playoff games.
They hovered around .500 in three of the past four seasons, the outlier being last year's smoke-and-mirrors 12-4 regular-season campaign, when they finished 1-5, including the most embarrassing home playoff loss in franchise history.
The near future figures to produce more of the same. There's a decent chance we're headed for a Matt Canada-Mason Rudolph marriage this fall (think Ben gets invited?). Obviously, with a schedule that has maybe three elite quarterbacks on it, the Steelers could cobble together another 9-8-type season, or maybe 8-7-2, and garner all kinds of praise for being "in it" again, just like every year.
CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora called the Steelers and their non-losing streak "amazing" the other day on 93.7 The Fan. He spoke of how they're always in it.
Quick question: Do you know how hard it is NOT to be in it these days, especially with the third wild card? No fewer than 13 of the 16 AFC teams had a realistic playoff chance with two weeks left ("Hey, at least we're not the Jacksonville Jaguars!").
Plus, there are different ways to define "in it."
"In it" as in mired in the muck of playoff-bubble mediocrity without a real shot at the Super Bowl? Or "in it" as in you could actually win it?
I know this is difficult for many to admit, but the Steelers' exceptionalism has faded. They have won two Super Bowls in the past 42 years with the next one nowhere in sight. If the only thing that sets them apart these days is a few seasons that went 8-8 instead of 7-9, thus keeping their non-losing streak intact, well, that's not much.
You have every right to be angry with the state of the franchise. I keep hearing how Steelers fans are spoiled. They don't know how good they have it.
I hear that as, "Listen, not every team has a shot every year and gives its fans something to root for late into seasons."
Well, let me tell you something: If we define "having a shot" as still being alive with, say, two weeks left in the season, then this fan base actually has plenty of company.
It is not unique.
By that reasonable definition, the Denver Broncos have "had a shot" in 18 of the past 21 years. The Chargers 12 of 15. The Ravens nearly every year. The Chiefs 10 of the 12 with some deep playoff runs. The Raiders four of seven. The Bills six of seven. The Dolphins seven of 10. The Colts nine of 10 and 18 of 20. The Titans six in a row. The Patriots every year except last year, although they were 6-6 at one point — I wonder if the motto in Boston was "It could be worse!" — before being eliminated Dec. 20.
Again, we're talking about a couple of 8-8 records from recent years that separate the Steelers when it comes to non-losing seasons, which I guess is the measuring stick these days.
Would you feel that much differently if they'd gone 7-9?
So go ahead, whoever you are, and laud the we-won-at-least-half-our-games streak. I'm left to wonder if the Steelers might be in the worst place a professional sports franchise can be: middle-of-the-pack without plausible championship aspirations.
Nobody roots for 4-13, but if the alternative is 9-8 forever, it might be best. The irony is that Mike Tomlin's 15-year string of non-losing seasons was born of — you guessed it — a losing season. The Steelers went 6-10 in 2003, leading to the single biggest reason for the 15-year streak: Ben Roethlisberger.
Also note that while Tomlin has never lost a team, he has now lost more playoff games than he has won (8-9).
So what's this all mean? Are you supposed to root for a terrible season?
Not necessarily, but be advised: The only two quarterbacks who have led the Steelers to championships — Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw — arrived as a direct result of terrible seasons.
Terrible seasons also produced Joe Greene, Mel Blount, Franco Harris, Rod Woodson and Jack Ham (some in later rounds, but that's the beauty of a bad season — you get to choose early in the later rounds, too).
Think of that a year from now when the Steelers finish 8-7-2 and somebody tells you how lucky you are.
