The Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-0, and that is true regardless of which teams they have played 0-1 against. This week it happened to be the Denver Broncos, a rebuilding team with a rookie quarterback. Yesterday it looked like that on home soil, but the Steelers may have had something to do with that ultimately.
Not in the eyes of former Broncos OL Mark Schlereth, who has spoken out repeatedly this offseason. That’s partly because he’s marketing himself more, but also because former Broncos QB Russell Wilson is now with the Steelers. Wilson didn’t even play yesterday due to an injury, but Schlereth still downplays the significance of the win.
“Steeler fans, you beat a rookie QB and a rebuilding team by 7 points,” Schlereth wrote on X about their win over the Broncos. “Don’t break your arms patting yourselves on the back!”
One can only hope that this is far from the Steelers’ most impressive win this season against a questionable Broncos team. Rookie QB Bo Nix threw for 246 yards, but it was too little, too late and reliant on gimmicks. As a team, they only rushed for 64 yards, an average of 3.4 yards per attempt. Nix also threw two interceptions, one of them in the red zone, which shows his weaknesses as a rookie.
In the season opener, the Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons, who play the Philadelphia Eagles tonight. They held Atlanta to just 10 points and relied on the takeaway, so they now have a total of five in two games. Pittsburgh, however, has only scored 31 points so far, which desperately needs improvement.
I think we all know that Schlereth is ultimately right, at least in the most basic sense. The Steelers beating the Falcons and Broncos isn’t impressive, or so it seems. They don’t seem like good teams right now, so beating them doesn’t tell us much about how good the Steelers are.
But the Steelers can only play the teams on their schedule in the order they play. They’ve done well and have a 2-0 record; that’s all we can say. Who’s to say they can’t or won’t beat the Chargers next week or the Cowboys later?
Remember that devastating AFC North challenge at the end of the season that the Steelers were supposed to fear? With the rest of the division currently sitting at 1-5, it doesn’t look like this is the biggest threat ever. Granted, the Bengals are slow starters, and the Ravens will look better once their line is set.
Although Schlereth is “right” on this point, his comment obviously reeks of jealousy. This is no surprise to the man who calls himself Stink. His opinions are often nasty, especially when it comes to the Steelers. And after watching his Broncos lose to the Steelers, it smells like he needs a change.
