Steelers 2020 season will rise or fall on these 5 players

The Steelers may be in for a long season if certain players do not play well

I realize that football is the ultimate team sport.  Not every player is going to play well every game.  The hope is that enough players will play well, which will translate into a victory.  The reality is that certain players simply must play well for the team to have a better than average chance of winning a game.

We can debate which Steelers players need to have a spectacular 2020 season, but the fact remains that despite injuries and sub-par performance from some players, the Steelers managed to finish the 2019 season with an 8-8 record and was in the playoff discussion nearly until the end.

To me, the Steelers have always been a team that has been successful if the offense and defense are complementary to each other.  In 2019, the defense was stellar while the offense sputtered.  If the players on the offensive side of the ball whom we discussed can recapture their form, so to speak, and the defense continues to play at a high level, the sky is the limit.

If none of the aforementioned comes to pass, the Steelers will yet again be watching the playoffs rather than participating in them.  We certainly do not want that to happen again, so we need certain players to perform a high level and to maintain that level of performance.