5 Steelers that will be unfairly made scapegoats during 2021
By Andrew Falce
If the Steelers end up underwhelming in 2021, the fanbase will be coming after and blaming these five scapegoats on the team.
No one likes it when their favorite team underperforms. The pitchforks come out and former fan favorite players are thrown to the wayside. While a lot of this is purely just emotions coming out, it can lead to eventual firings and cuts.
That said, football is a team sport, so piling the blame on one singular individual is rarely a proper reaction. While a player will contribute to the success and failure of a team, lumping all of the blame on just one person and making them the scapegoat is unfair. With that said, here are the Steelers’ five most likely scapegoats that the fans will go after in 2021.
Steelers Joe Haden
Joe Haden isn’t a name that receives a lot of disdain with the Steelers, but that seems like it could change after this season. The former Browns corner has been praised as a savior to this secondary since his signing coincided with the team’s coordinated efforts to rebuild the defensive backfield. That said, the group lost two key starters in Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton, and the secondary will almost certainly take a step back from how they had been playing the past few seasons. With Haden another year older and his athleticism waning, don’t be surprised to see him get targeted as a reason the secondary regressed.
While Haden’s disappearing athleticism was noticeable last season, especially when he was tasked with covering speedy deep threats, Haden still has great coverage ability. He isn’t the player he once was, but for a 32-year-old corner, he is a fine player still. That said, with the struggles, this group will likely face (at least struggles compared to the last two seasons), Haden will be a primary scapegoat as to why the defense and secondary as a whole takes a step back this season. Again, expect his play to dip a little more as he ages, but the loss of Nelson and Hilton will be the primary cause of secondary regression this season as opposed to any potential decline from Haden.