PITTSBURGH — Many people have offered many different opinions about the current state of the NFL game. I like Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay's observation best, even if it means a year or even years of gloom and doom for the Steelers. His tweet Tuesday was so spot-on:
"You can see, clear as day, in The Final 8 NFL Team Playoffs you need a QB and Offense, who can score 30 or more in Regulation, and a Defense that can hold an opponent under 30!"
Interpretation, Part I:
How can the Steelers possibly compete for a championship when quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson are in their conference?
Interpretation, Part II:
How in the world can the Steelers compete with their defense, which gave up 41, 41, 36, 36 and 42 points in games this season?
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
The gloom and doom might last for a long time.
Actually, the Steelers defense, which was worst in the NFL against the run this season, has a chance to improve rather quickly. A healthy Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu would help in a big way next season. So would a productive Devin Bush, a few more months past major knee surgery. But there are no guarantees, of course. The secondary could lose three starters. Joe Haden, Terrell Edmunds and Ahkello Witherspoon are free agents.
But the offense?
The Steelers scored more than 30 points just one time this season. Do you really expect it to be better next season? With Matt Canada as the play-caller again? With Mason Rudolph as the quarterback? With that offensive line? With their collection of receivers after the poor way that group finished this season?
Please.
The gap between the Steelers and the Super Bowl never seemed wider than it did during the playoff games last weekend. It was as if the Chiefs with Mahomes and the Bills with Allen and the Bengals with Burrow were playing a different game. The Steelers offense doesn't even remotely resemble those offenses with those quarterbacks.
Really, how many more sideways passes for a 4-yard gain on 3rd-and-6 can you take?
The painful truth?
The Steelers can't compete for a championship without better quarterback play. Maybe not Mahomes- or Allen- or Burrow-caliber play, but significantly better than what it appears, at least for now, they will get next season.
I know, we're not even in February yet. It is way, way early in the offseason process and a lot can change. Maybe Dwayne Haskins will beat out Rudolph, although I'm not sure he's a better option. Maybe the Steelers will draft a quarterback, although there are no can't-miss prospects in next spring's draft. More likely, they will bring in a veteran free agent. I hear people begging for Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson in a trade, but there's no chance that will happen. The team has too many other needs to give up the draft capital it would take to get one of those quarterbacks. That's not the Steelers Way, anyway.
Sadly, the Steelers are much closer to the Browns than they are to the Bengals or Ravens in the AFC North division when it comes to their quarterback. The Browns have been searching for a quarterback for nearly a quarter-century and still don't have one because Baker Mayfield isn't their answer. The Bengals have Burrow, the Ravens have Jackson. The young quarterbacks in the AFC are so good that I can't rate Jackson higher than fifth-best behind Mahomes, Allen, Burrow and Herbert. And Jackson is a former NFL MVP.
This seems to be the appropriate time to run the list of Steelers quarterbacks between four-time Super Bowl winner Terry Bradshaw and two-time winner Roethlisberger. Bradshaw retired after the 1983 season. Roethlisberger was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2004 draft.
Are you ready?
Cliff Stoudt. Mark Malone. David Woodley. Scott Campbell. Bubby Brister. Steve Bono. Reggie Collier. Todd Blackledge. Rick Strom. Neil O'Donnell. Mike Tomczak. Jim Miller. Kordell Stewart. Mike Quinn. Pete Gonzalez. Kent Graham. Tommy Maddox. Charlie Batch.
Those 20-plus years were pretty bleak, although the Steelers did get to the AFC championship game with Malone and Woodley in 1984, the AFC championship game in 1994 and the Super Bowl in 1995 with O'Donnell, and two AFC championship games with Stewart in 1997 and 2001.
The Steelers already are in a lengthy slump. They have won just three playoff games since 2010. The Bengals, hard as it might be to believe, can match that total in this postseason if they beat the Chiefs on Sunday.
I just can't help but wonder if the next 20-plus seasons will be even worse.
