“The Simpsons,” the longest-running comedy this side of the Aaron Rodgers Experience, debuted in December 1989. That season, Todd Blackledge started two games as quarterback for a Pittsburgh Steelers team that went 9-7 and somehow managed to win a playoff game. Yes, it can be done, you TikTok-era Steelers fans.
I got into “The Simpsons” from the start. In one episode, the lovable lump Homer Simpson looks in the mirror after downing his share of Duff Beer. Staring back at him is a ripped body.
As the NFL offseason plays out, I can’t help but wonder if the Steelers see what Homer Simpson did when they look in the mirror. How they perceive themselves—Super Bowl or bust—relative to reality is just as jarring.
Their hole at quarterback could hide Scotty Miller. And just as when the Steelers drafted Najee Harris in 2020 — the offensive line had holes, couldn’t open them — they put the tap before the keg of Duff Beer with their biggest offseason move.
Trading for an uber talent like DK Metcalf without knowing who will throw him the ball doesn’t make much sense. And let’s not even go to George Pickens having to share targets with Metcalf in a contract year with potentially Mason Rudolph throwing them the ball. Full disclosure: I am a huge Rudolph fan for how he has handled himself, but he won’t bail out the Steelers again like he did at the end of the 2023 season.
I would have no problem if Rudolph is their bridge QB in 2025.
And it could just work if the offensive line plays to its pedigree in 2025 and the Steelers trot out a dominant defense, which they seem to think they have.
Think is the key word here.
For more than a few seasons now, the Steelers have been good but not great defensively. And anchors like T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward are not getting any younger.
The Steelers would have given up 300 rushing yards in their latest playoff loss if not for a Lamar Jackson kneel-down to mercifully end the game. Their response to getting bullied up front? Sign Daniel Ekuale and Esezi Otowemo. The draft can’t get here soon enough.
Nothing against Ekuale and Otowemo, but what are we doing here? And that applies to the bigger picture.
The Steelers aren’t just a highly-accomplished but 41-year-old QB away from making a run at the Super Bowl. Yet they willingly remain a hostage to Aaron Rodgers’ whims and/or ego because of their distorted view of themselves.
I suppose Rodgers could lead the Steelers to the postseason win that has eluded them since 2016. Beyond that? Jackson, Josh Allen, or Patrick Mahomes would probably await the Steelers.
Rodgers beat Will Levis, Jacoby Brissett, C.J. Stroud, Mac Jones, and Tyler Huntley – in that order – last season when the New York Jets went 5-12. Is he really going to give them a better chance in January than Russell Wilson did last season?
This isn’t to bash Rodgers. The four-time NFL MVP can make up his damn mind whenever he wants. And he is closer to his glory days than his AARP card despite the disaster that was his Jets tenure.
Ultimately, the Steelers’ willingness to wait on Rodgers says more about them than it does him. Above all, it says they are Homer Simpson looking at a mirror.
And seeing DK Metcalf’s abs.
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