The Pittsburgh Steelers offense consists of some of the best players in the league at their respective positions. Could we see a Steeler be named Most Valuable Player this season?
The Pittsburgh Steelers have the best offense in the league, hands down. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell are all in the top 3 at their positions when healthy. One could debate that Brown and Bell are the best at their positions.
Together, the three “Killer B’s” combine to make up a lethal combo, with record shattering potential.
If the group plays well enough this season, they have the talent to have one of the best offensive seasons in NFL history, and potentially hand one of the members the first MVP award Pittsburgh has seen since Terry Bradshaw in 1978.
With Le’Veon Bell returning from his knee injury, a lot of people wonder if he can return to form and be the unstoppable force that he became throughout 2014. Bell is the most dynamic and explosive running back in the league when healthy, but it’s more likely that he’d be handed Comeback Player of the Year than Most Valuable Player. Still, it’s not impossible.
Bell is a two dimensional player. While he’s hard to stop in the run game, he’s also one of Roethlisberger’s main weapons when passing the football. If Antonio Brown is strapped and no other receiver finds an opening, an easy check down to Le’Veon can turn into a huge play at any given moment.
Antonio Brown is another player who could be considered for MVP.
No wide receiver has ever won the award, so it may seem unlikely, but again, it’s not impossible. In fact, many analysts have pointed to Brown as a candidate in the last couple of years, and he surely deserves it.
Antonio Brown has truly been a one man wrecking crew the last three seasons. He has emerged as the best wide receiver in the NFL, and has been completely dominant and no one has an answer for him.
In 2014, there was all this fuss about JJ Watt eyeing the MVP title, because he was simply the most dominant player in the game at the time. Unsurprisingly, the award went to a quarterback, and a lot of people felt Watt had been snubbed. Brown’s situation is fairly similar to that.
It’s hard to think of a single player in the entire league who is more dominant, unstoppable, or has more affect than Antonio Brown. Chris Harris Jr, a cornerback who had not allowed a single touchdown in two years, allowed Brown to fly by into the end zone twice and secure the victory for Pittsburgh.
If Brown continues to pace he’s been at, continuing to improve and add to his stats year by year, he could have an earth shattering season that could be enough to land him as the first wide receiver to win the coveted award.
Finally, we get to Ben Roethlisberger. The award tends to favor quarterbacks, so it would make most sense for him to be the most likely candidate to take the prize. For Ben, health is the biggest concern.
If Roethlisberger does not go down injured, he could easily have a career year. It seems that age isn’t affecting the tough slinger quite yet, and with the countless weapons at his disposal, he has at his disposal an offense that any quarterback could succeed in, but he’s not just any quarterback.
Roethlisberger has proven to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He is in the top tier at the position, and is likely in the top 3, behind maybe Brady and Rodgers. He is still full of breathtaking throws, crazy escapes in the pocket, and incredible plays that have made him simply one of the best.
If Roethlisberger stays upright, and the weapons he has can as well, there is no doubt in my mind that he has the potential to be the best quarterback in the league this year, maybe enough so to earn himself his first MVP award.
Which Pittsburgh Steeler, if any, do you think could be the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2016, Steeler Nation?