If football purgatory was a city, the Steelers would be the mayor of it. They’ve been the definition of slightly above-average for the past half decade, good enough to keep Mike Tomlin’s non-losing season streak alive, but not good enough to win in the playoffs. As a result, many Steelers fans feel a rebuild could be in the franchise’s best interest. Former NFL scout John Middlekauff doesn’t think that’s the best idea.
“It’s easy to go, ‘Let’s just suck, let’s blow this b—- up’,” Middlekauff said in a video posted to his YouTube channel on Thursday. “There is no guarantee that you flip that thing around. I’m not saying you’re [Steelers fans] spoiled, ’cause you’re not. I get the frustration. I think the move is not trying to tank.”
This is the question that’s come up among Steelers fans many times in recent years, and it’s a debate as old as time. Is it better to take the risk that comes along with tanking, hoping to develop into a true Super Bowl contender? Or continue fielding good but not great teams, with the hope that a magical postseason run comes along?
The latter approach is what the Steelers have tried for quite some time now. To their credit, it has worked before. In 2005, Pittsburgh was 7-5 through the first 13 weeks of the season. The Steelers won their last four regular-season games to grab an AFC Wild Card spot. Then, they pulled off road victories against the Bengals, Colts and Broncos in the playoffs, before beating the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
With that said, 2005 was quite a long time ago. Now, the Steelers have two world-class quarterbacks in their own division in Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. Along with that, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen have halted them in the playoffs in recent years as well. Sometimes being just good enough to sneak into the playoffs and getting hot at the right time can result in a Super Bowl. Yet, that hasn’t felt possible at all in the past few years.
Of course, tanking sometimes pays off. A couple of years ago, the Texans took C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick. Since then, Stroud has won two playoff games in as many years, while the Steelers are slowly floating away from relevance.
Tanking doesn’t always work, though. If you asked a fan of the Browns, Raiders or Jets, they’d trade places with Steelers fans in a heartbeat. That’s the risk Pittsburgh runs if it tanks. Sure, the Steelers might find the star quarterback they’ve been so desperate for. Or, trying to tank could lead to the Steelers becoming bottom dwellers for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, the Steelers should have their crack at a quarterback next offseason, without having to tank at all. They’ve got an extra third-round pick from the George Pickens trade, as well as a handful of compensatory picks. If the Steelers play their cards right, they can try to contend for the playoffs in 2025 and still land their desired quarterback in the 2026 draft by trading up. That’s a big if, though. For now, while it may end up in another irrelevant season, it might be their best choice.
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