The Pittsburgh Steelers got off to a horrible start to the 2019 National Football League regular season. In the first week, they were hammered 33-3 by the New England Patriots. Then in week two against the Seattle Seahawks, Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger injured his elbow in a 28-26 loss and just over a week later was placed on injury reserve with right elbow surgery. He would be out for the rest of the 2019 National Football League regular season.
Then over the next three weeks, the Steelers lost twice. The first to the San Francisco 49ers and the second to the Baltimore Ravens. All of a sudden, the Steelers were 1-4.
However, over the last month, the Steelers have won four games by a combined total of 27 points. They defeated both Los Angeles squads, the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts. All of a sudden, the Steelers have a record of five wins and four losses and are tied with the Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts for the second wildcard spot in the AFC.
At first glance, there is no doubt that the Steelers had a very difficult start to the season when it came to strength of schedule. However, the Steelers have been able to beat three teams with a combined record of 35-13 in 2018 (the Chargers, Colts and Rams) in their last four games.
In the Steelers win over the Chargers on October 13, James Conner had 119 total yards and two touchdowns in a 24-17 win in southern California. The next week, Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph returned from a neck injury and led the Steelers to a 27-14 win over the Miami Dolphins. In this game, the Steelers got off to a slow start as they were down 14-0 after the first quarter before scoring 27 unanswered points. Conner had 145 yards rushing and one touchdown, while wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster had five catches for 103 yards receiving and one touchdown.
The Steelers then squeaked out a two-point win over the Colts as Adam Vinatieri missed a 43-yard field goal with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter. Then on Sunday, the Steelers defense was excellent as they had three interceptions in a 17-12 win over the Rams.
Pittsburgh has a rather soft schedule over the next month. They have two games against the struggling Cleveland Browns, one game against the winless Cincinnati Bengals and then another game against the young Arizona Cardinals. They could just be 9-4 before long. Nobody expected that without Ben Roethlisberger.
