Tag: 2020 Steelers season

USA TODAY puts Steelers in playoffs as a wild card in 2020

The return of Ben Roethlisberger should get the Steelers back into the playoffs.

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Of all the teams in the NFL, none go into the 2020 season with more promise for improvement than the Pittsburgh Steelers. After losing franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a season-ending injury, Pittsburgh still clawed their way to 8-8 and if not for a late-season swoon would have made the playoffs.

USA TODAY put out their NFL season predictions and they gave the Steelers a nice bump to 11-5 with the pending return of their franchise quarterback.

Here’s what they had to say about the Steelers.

QB Ben Roethlisberger rejoins a squad that nearly reached postseason in 2019 while restoring its defense to top-five status. Pittsburgh lost its final three games last year but will face only one 2019 playoff team over its final five weeks in 2020.

The argument of schedule strength carries no weight for any team. The Steelers might have one of the easiest schedules on paper based on last season’s record, if you look at projected wins for this year, Pittsburgh has one of the toughest schedules in the NFL.

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2020 Steelers stat projections: Wide receivers

The Steelers wide receivers should all improve in 2020.

Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Last season, there was very little the wide receiver unit could do to help the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately, their success is predicated heavily on the play at quarterback and things were shaky there for the entire season. But the return of Ben Roethlisberger this season promises a bounceback for the wide receivers as well.

Here are our early stat projections for the Steelers in 2020.

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Smith-Schuster gets back on track in 2020 but still falls short of his 2018 mark. Look for Smith-Schuster in the slot much more this season.

78 receptions, 1,053 receiving yards, 8 receiving touchdowns

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Conditioning will be key for Steelers rookie class

Mike Tomlin expects any rookie who wants to play to be at their peak of conditioning.

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If there is one thing we all understand it is that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin puts a high priority on conditioning. This is especially true of rookies and their playing time.

When the Steelers drafting safety Sean Davis, Tomlin praised his conditioning and said it played directly into why he played in all 16 games as a rookie and got nine starts. Same for wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster when he reported to camp in excellent condition. He earned seven rookie starts as well.

With rookie minicamp taking place in a virtual setting and Tomlin unable to assess rookie conditioning in person, it will be up to these young men to get themselves in the best physical shape they can before camps open up. Pittsburgh may not need guys like wide receiver Chase Claypool and edge Alex Highsmith to start but if they aren’t at the level of conditioning Tomlin wants, their options for any meaningful reps will be limited.

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Ranking the 5 toughest games on the Steelers 2020 schedule

What Steelers game is the toughest this season?

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

If you are trying to decide how difficult the Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 schedule is, there are two ways to look at it. Based on last season’s win/loss records, the Steelers have one of the easiest schedules in the league. But if you look at projected wins for 2020 based on betting odds, they have the seventh hardest schedule.

Here are the five toughest games on the Steelers 2020 schedule.

5-Week 16 vs Indianapolis Colts

The only home game in our rankings, the Colts presents an interesting challenge very late in the season. The addition of Philip Rivers makes this a much more dangerous team and there could be huge implications in the AFC playoff picture with this game.

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3 Steelers poised for a breakout in 2020

We are counting on big seasons from these three Steelers.

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone is anxiously awaiting the return of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But if the Steelers are going to get back into the playoffs after a two-year absence, it’s going to take a full team effort. This also means some guys who aren’t getting as much talk need to have big seasons.

Here are the three guys we are counting on to break out in 2020.

RB | Benny Snell Jr.

Forgive us if we just aren’t sold on James Conner being able to carry the load all season. his injury concerns just mean Snell is going to have more opportunities. Snell isn’t the most dynamic running back on the roster but he has the potential to be a workhorse and keep the chains moving if he can get some momentum going.

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ESPN parks Steelers in the middle of NFL power rankings

Have the Steelers done enough to keep pace in the AFC?

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Before the offseason began, it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t doing much of anything. They were cash strapped and didn’t really have any major needs other than getting their current players back from injury. But somehow the Steelers front office found a way to add some really nice players in free agency to fill in at multiple starting spots and looked to the future for the 2020 NFL draft.

At this point, the Steelers top goal has to be to keep pace with the high-powered contenders in the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Have they done enough? ESPN put out their post-draft power rankings this week and it looks like they still view the Steelers as a middle of the road squad, checking in at No. 14.

Here’s what they said about the ranking.

The quarterbacks came away from the draft with new playmakers and more job security. Roethlisberger got Martavis Bryant 2.0 with WR Chase Claypool, and the team didn’t draft a quarterback, further solidifying Rudolph’s job as the backup and potential heir apparent whenever Roethlisberger retires. Rudolph had a rocky 2019 season, but the team believes in developing him with the help of new QB coach Matt Canada. All of the moves signal that they believe Roethlisberger will be at full strength whenever the season starts, and they want to make his job as easy as possible.

These power rankings have the Steelers as the sixth-best team in the AFC, trailing the Chiefs, Ravens, Titans, Colts and Bills. This feels low but we have to concede that the entire season depends on the health of Ben Roethlisberger and honestly the rest is just window dressing.

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Ranking all the Steelers positional units after the NFL draft and free agency

Which positional unit is on top and which one is dead last?

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Last season’s version of the Pittsburgh Steelers was battered with injuries to a degree that the healthy players left, regardless of how good they were, just couldn’t keep up. But everyone is healthy now and the team has made some interesting offseason moves despite very limited salary cap space. How do they break down by position unit? Here are my rankings after the draft and most of free agency.

1-Outside linebacker

It’s hard to have the most explosive pass-rushing tandem in the AFC and not be at the top of this list. T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree both had breakout seasons in 2019 and are coming into this season with a ton of momentum. The addition of Alex Highsmith in the draft and the continued emergence of Ola Adeniyi just makes this group better.

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Report: Steelers could end up playing Saturday games this season

The Steelers could find themselves playing on Saturday this season.

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According to a report in the New York Post brought to us courtesy of Touchdown Wire, the NFL is contemplating some pretty radical changes to the NFL schedule just days before it is scheduled to be announced.

According to the report, if college football doesn’t return in the fall, all teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers could find themselves capitalizing on the open day of the weekend and play some NFL games on Saturday.

With the NFL expected to release its schedule soon, its officials have discussed giving the league some flexibility to move games to Saturdays this fall if college football postpones its entire season, according to sources.

While the majority of the week’s schedule would remain on Sundays, along with the primetime Monday and Thursday slates, some stand-alone games could be reset for Saturdays.

The NFL will only consider the move if there is no college football. It is still unclear if college football will be played this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a slippery slope should it happen. I totally get the NFL wanting to move some games around in order to grab those Saturday football ratings. But as we’ve seen for many years, playing games on short weeks doesn’t make for quality football.

We should know more in the next six weeks when most states are well into their re-opening of the economy and we will see if gatherings on the scale of a college football game are recommended.

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Over/Under for Steelers wins in 2020 set at 11

Will Ben Roethlisberger get the Steelers back on track this season?

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Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers finished at 8-8 and narrowly missed the playoffs. If not for a late-season collapse, Pittsburgh would have snuck into the playoffs while operating a revolving door of mediocrity at the quarterback position. But the promise of the return of Ben Roethlisberger hope springs eternal.

At least this is what the folks at Bet MGM think. They released their over/under for 2020 season wins for all 32 NFL teams and their pick of 11 wins for the Steelers is quite generous.

Why such a big number? It’s all about Big Ben. Despite missing the playoffs the last two years, oddsmakers are counting on the combination of Roethlisberger’s return and newfound elite defense will be enough for Pittsburgh to keep pace with the top teams in the AFC.

If the Steelers want to reach their goals in 2020, they will need more than Roethlisberger. The defense will need to be even better than they were in 2019 as the top teams of the AFC — the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs — went to significant lengths this offseason to get even better.

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Steelers announce signings of multiple UDFAs

Pittsburgh is rounding out their 90-man offseason roster.

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Just because the 2020 NFL draft is over, the business of the offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers presses on. The team announced on Tuesday they had signed six of their undrafted free agents from 2020.

We will dedicate a significant amount of time to the Steelers UDFA class and break down their chances of making the final roster. But for now, with these additions and a few cuts, the Steelers currently have their full 90-man offseason roster. The team is tentatively planning to begin their virtual offseason program next week as many states including Pennsylvania sort out the details of plans to re-open.

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