Defense could be just getting started
Associate Editor
The last time an 8-8 team went into the offseason with legitimate reason for excitement?
Might have to check the last time a team returned its quarterback from a season-long injury.
That’s why the .500 Steelers opened as the No. 9 favorite in Las Vegas recently, because Ben Roethlisberger is coming back from an injury.
Of course, Roethlisberger will be 38 and no one knows whether his rebuilt right elbow will return to its former glory.
The Steelers have little available cap room as they head into free agency, and as for the draft there’s no first- or third-rounder in the till.
But the excitement over next year’s Steelers lies on the other side of the ball. The Steelers have a legitimate defense, a defense that gives them the very real possibility of playing its way into the Super Bowl.
We saw the signs in the 2019 season when the Steelers once again led the NFL in sacks, and also in takeaways.
Their 38 takeaways led the league and more than doubled the previous season’s 15. It was also the most for the Steelers since 1996, when
