The stage is set. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, meeting again on football’s biggest stage, just two years after a tight and controversial finish in their first go at it.
Yeah, I’m not thrilled about it, and no one else outside of those teams’ fanbases are either.
However, as a Steelers guy, there is one ounce of what I’d call a “bright side,” and that is how both of the participating parties beat the snot out of our boys in the regular season—and no, I’m not saying that to be funny.
Think about it: No one entered this postseason with as little momentum as the Pittsburgh Steelers, as they rode in on a four-game loss streak, half of which was thanks to Philly and KC.
Steelers' late-season losses look more justifiable with Super Bowl LIX matchup
When looking at those lows now, not only does the streak look more…justifiable, but we can see that it at least wasn’t for nothing. Don’t get me wrong, we had already known that the Eagles and Chiefs were dominant squads, so it’s not exactly like them kicking sand in Pittsburgh’s eyes was utterly unpredictable.
But, with both of them facing the Steelers late in the season, their games obviously had heavier implications, thanks to tight divisional/conference races and whatnot. I mean heck, Kansas City’s victory was literally the dagger in locking up its top seed. When combining that with how the Eagles dub capped off a franchise-best win streak of 10 games, it’s hard to deny that downing Pittsburgh was each team’s biggest regular-season accomplishment.
It’s important to remember, though, that just because the results were impactful doesn’t mean they were worth sitting on the edge of your seat for, and that’s precisely what brings me to my final piece of closure—those beatings now serve as more substantial evidence behind Pittsburgh not being a contender.
Now I know what you’re thinking: “Wow, no kidding! Who would’ve ever guessed the 10-win team that was kicked out of the Wild Card Round after losing for the fifth week in a row wasn’t tough enough to play in the Super Bowl?” I get that sarcasm, but just hear me out.
When we see losses like the late ones Pittsburgh suffered after such a promising start, we desperately try to pick apart what could’ve been done differently to avoid them, having us approach the Steelers as more of a “what-if” and less of a team that was merely out of its element. If the 33 combined points they lost to Philly and KC by wasn’t enough to expose that flawed mindset to you, then perhaps watching those two fight for the Lombardi will be.
So, to recap: The matchup we have for Super Bowl LIX tells yinzers that their boys didn’t fall as hard as they’d thought, that their losses were put to as good of use as possible and that they never had a chance at anything greater than what they got.
If those takeaways don’t mean much to you, I’m sure you’re joining a large club, but one thing remains certain, and that’s that they can’t be worth any less than the objectively unlikable matchup itself. With that in mind, I’m willing to take whatever optimistic outlook I can.