The Pittsburgh Steelers have sunk another rung. Their season isn’t over, still 6-5 with two games against the Baltimore Ravens on the docket, but the feeling of the season sure is different. Maybe because it’s the same story. A just-above-average unit in the hunt, but not a threat to make noise when games count.
Following Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, what was the reaction? Nothing. Silence.
That’s the point. Though it hardly means anything from an on-field perspective, the media is now treating the Pittsburgh Steelers as wholly irrelevant.
We track and follow every morning show, checking out what the talking heads have to say for any interesting or notable commentary. Monday, there was nothing. Don’t confuse that with the media ignoring the game. They paid it plenty of attention. But the conversation focused almost exclusively on the Chicago Bears. The rise of Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, and a franchise poised to win double-digit games for the first time since 2018. Credit to them. That organization deserves plenty of praise. Every summation of yesterday’s media cycle was “this show talked about the game, nothing about the Steelers.”
But the media also loves the negative. “If it bleeds, it leads,” as the old news adage goes. That’s why the media has spent endless time talking about the losers and downtrodden. The Kansas City Chiefs are in danger of missing the playoffs, much less winning the division, after a decade of dominance. The Philadelphia Eagles’ turbulent year, despite an enviable record, following every comment wide receiver A.J. Brown makes. The media loves talking about the loser as much as it does about the winner.
For the Steelers? Crickets. It’s hard to blame them. There isn’t much more to say. A team stuck in the middle. The Aaron Rodgers storyline has expired, and to his credit, he’s done little to generate outside noise. He’s been a great teammate and largely gone about his business.
No team is trying to win the media game. But there is a correlation. The more the Steelers fade, the more the standard is lowered and expectations dropped, the more irrelevant the franchise becomes. Even hot early-season starts like the last two years have been met with a collective shrug as the media waits for the bottom to fall out. So far, they’ve been correct.
The Steelers are the “nameless grey faces” Mike Tomlin often refers to opponents as. The opposition merely serving as a vessel for the headliner to take center stage. Yesterday isn’t the first example or first instance I noticed it. The same occurred after Pittsburgh’s Week 8 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The focus was on Green Bay’s win and what it meant for them. What it meant for a Steelers loss simply didn’t matter and wasn’t broached.
Pittsburgh is falling into the camp of the other forgotten. The Tennessee Titans, the Carolina Panthers, the Arizona Cardinals. It’s not always the worst teams, but smaller-market clubs without much interesting to say. The New York Jets are bad, but they bring a storyline. The Steelers just bring more of the same.
Even a year ago, Mike Tomlin’s future was a hot topic. Now, it’s hardly receiving any publicity. Perhaps that will pick up throughout the season if the Steelers’ fall continues, and it, along with Rodgers’ future, is already a slam-dunk early offseason storyline. It’s worth noting, evident as it is, that the Steelers’ fall to this point comes under Tomlin’s tenure. A prolonged drought that may end in nine-straight years without a playoff win and five-straight without an AFC North crown. Mounting factors that weigh against him.
But while games are still being played, Pittsburgh will just simply exist. The Steelers floating around .500 and the Wild Card has become common. Their status as a forgettable team is new.