It has been a busy 2021 offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. The NFL world learned that Melvin Ingram will be signing a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Cheifs and Dolphins. Mike Tomlin was one of the biggest reasons why Ingram decided to join the Steelers organization calling him a players coach who wants to win football games.
The Steelers did win the AFC North Crown in 2020 and much of the National Media do not think the Steelers will be a top football team this season. On Good Morning Football Nate Burleson discussed how the Steelers can still stay on top in the AFC North. One of the biggest things the Steelers need to do is be able to push the ball down the field in 2021 because both the Browns, Ravens, and Bengals have quarterbacks who are able to push the ball downfield.
Burleson says the Steelers are going to have to push the ball down the field instead of just throwing quick passes because last season teams figured out the Steelers only wanted to play the quick passing game so NFL teams decided to blitz because they knew the Steelers had no running game and it worked. It was interesting to hear many analysts on the NFL Network this morning say the Steelers are still going to be a good football team in 2021. That seems to be rare coming from the National Media as of late.
I keep on hearing how Ben Roethlisberger is going to need to keep up with the young AFC North quarterbacks during the 2021 offseason. Has no one done their research and looked at the statistics between Ben and those young quarterbacks last season? Not only did Ben Roethlisberger keep up with all of them, but he topped them in quite a few statistics. Ben did not have as bad of a season in 2020 as much of the media are saying he did. I think it is a bit blown out of proportion.
I agree with much of the NFL Network saying Ben Roethlisberger must throw the ball down the field this season, but he needs to be able to depend on his offensive line. The two biggest issues the Steelers have on the offensive side of the ball are their offensive line and their schematic issues. The Steelers are hoping Matt Canada's new offense can help fix the schematic issues in Pittsburgh. They also feel by giving Adrian Klemm a younger offensive line will allow them to play more physically upfront. If the Steelers can fix those two issues on the offensive side of the ball I think they can finally get back to Steelers football in 2021.