The Pittsburgh Steelers biggest test yet was supposed to be their Week 4 matchup against the Titans. Here are the pros and cons if the game is postponed.
The Pittsburgh Steelers matchup with the Titans could end up being postponed. The two teams were both neck and neck in 2019 to make the playoffs before Tennessee ran away with the wild card spot. They managed to defeat the number 1 seed Ravens in the process. They used good defense with a very solid running game to pair with comeback player of the year Ryan Tannehill. This resulted in a postseason force that Tennessee generated with themselves.
With multiple players and personnel testing positive for COVID-19, it seems as though the Week 4 match up will have to wait. The need of a two-week quarantine for people who test positive being a factor, Tennessee’s immediate season is in jeopardy. The Titans organization has already announced they are closing their facilities for the week in hopes to stop the spread.
The league could elect to give the Steelers an early bye, while moving their matchup with Tennessee to Week 7 and shifting the Steelers vs. Ravens match up to Week 8. This is because the Steelers and Ravens were scheduled to play in Week 7, but that is Tennesse’s bye week, and Baltimore and Pittsburgh both have a bye in Week 8.
With this being an early inter-conference match up between two more-than-likely playoff contenders, there is little to no chance Pittsburgh picks up a forfeit. There will be playoff implications from this match up whenever it happens.
While this was not planned, the early bye week would bring some benefits and detriments to the men in black and gold. What makes this such a good, yet such a bad thing for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Here are the pros and cons:
The prospect of an early bye for the Pittsburgh Steelers isn’t all bad news.
While the Steelers were more than likely looking forward to their most challenging test of the season, it will probably have to wait. Pittsburgh will probably breathe with a sigh of relief as they could use the time to get healthy heading into the next couple weeks.
While on the surface the Pittsburgh Steelers are much more healthy than they were in 2019. However, it only takes another key player or two to throw a wrench in the works. The Steelers Week 3 matchup with the Texans left Pittsburgh with a few injuries. Possibly the biggest injury to the offense so far in 2020 saw Diontae Johnson leave week 3 early with a concussion.
While Chase Claypool leads the wide receiver group in yards per reception, that has been inflated by the 84 yard touchdown catch against Denver. That one play accounts for over half of his receiving yards, as he only has 6 catches on the season. Diontae Johnson otherwise leads the Steelers wide receivers in yards per catch with 10.6. He is also second on the team with catches at 14 and he was leading the team in that department until he left Week 4 early with the injury. Ray-Ray McCloud is showing promise as a kick returner and did not look bad filling in for Johnson on punt return duties in week 4. However, Johnson is clearly the better of the two in this area. The Steelers would be without their starter in effectively two positions coming into Week 4 otherwise.
Pittsburgh also lost Derek Watt to a hamstring injury, and his loss was a bit bigger than one would think. The difference in our ability to run without Watt vs with Watt in the line up is big. You saw it in Week 3 when he sprung James Conner on a 59 yard gain to close out the game. He is also a special teams standout as he forced the safety on a punt attempt in on Sunday.
Watt is likely to miss multiple weeks, but the few games we have to play without him the better. There are some other bumps and bruises but the main thing was losing these two, who are key member of the special teams units as well, on top of being on our backup right tackle already made the Week 4 match up with the Titans look less appealing.
It is also worth noting that looking beyond Week 4 the Steelers are playing against the Eagles before their first matchups with the Bengals and Browns. The Pittsburgh Steelers will want to be as healthy as possible before their back to back divisional games that they must win to stay in the running to win their division.
With such an early bye week, there are definitely disadvantages for the latter part of the season
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a few key injuries now, but they are not that unhealthy, especially on defense. Defense is the side of the ball Pittsburgh is counting on to win them games at the current moment, and as evidenced in the second half of their Week 4 match up they can do it.
Furthermore, if they were to sustain a couple injuries in the middle part of the season, losing a week 8 bye would hurt. The final 3rd of the season is where teams are expected to be working towards their best as they aim to peak in the playoffs. An extra week to prepare for their Week 9 match up with the Cowboys may be missed. The last time they faced off, Ezekiel Elliott would score a walk-off touchdown run right after a fake spike touchdown pass to Antonio Brown. This inter-conference match up might be the toughest test against an NFC team Pittsburgh will have all season.
Ben does play his best ball towards the end of the season and that will go a long way, because if injuries start piling up he will have to be able to carry this Pittsburgh Steelers team through, and into the playoffs. If the Steelers start losing key starters on either the offensive or defensive line, which are their older position groups, while getting ready for the playoffs, then Steelers are going to have a lot of trouble to deal with clinching a playoff berth for the 2020 season. This is especially true for the offensive line as they are already down a starting-caliber tackle for the rest of the season.
Having the bye week now would help in an important stretch of divisional games as the Steelers look to set up a playoff berth early in the season. That being said, a Week 8 bye is the best time to have one. The Steelers are more than likely hoping that the game does not get pushed back as a result, but we will have to wait and see.