When was the last time the Pittsburgh Steelers felt this good about a team who went 8-8 and looked as bad on offense as they did in 2019? They ranked 27th in scoring last season, averaging 18.1 points per game, in a year in which they scored three non-offensive touchdowns and led the league in takeaways.
But they also ranked fifth in defensive points allowed, allowing just 18.9 points per game. And their offense operated without Ben Roethlisberger almost all year long. Even in the brief period of time for which he was on the field for the first game and a half, he was clearly playing through pain, which he confirmed late last week speaking to Ron Cook for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.