With all respect to the Jaguars and Giants, when the Saturday games concluded this past weekend, the six best teams in the NFL were still standing. When the Sunday slate concluded, the four best teams remained.
As they prepare for a crucial offseason in which they have a plethora of draft and salary cap resources, what can the Steelers take away from these successful teams as we head into Championship Weekend?
As viewers, we are privileged to be seeing Cincinnati, Kansas City, Philadelphia and San Francisco as the final four teams left in the NFL. They are the most deserving.
It often doesn’t go that way. Injuries and the war of attrition that is the NFL playoff run often derails one or several of the best four candidates to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Sometimes getting eliminated just comes down to poor luck or a bad bounce or a missed field goal or something of that ilk. Unlike in the NHL or NBA, one bad game in the National Football League playoffs leads to elimination. The point is that it is extremely difficult to win playoff games in the NFL and these four teams-all of which have about equal odds of winning the Super Bowl as it stands today -- have done it right.
Before we dissect the Eagles, 49ers, Bengals and Chiefs in this capacity, let’s first look at one common thread as to why Dallas and Buffalo were eliminated on Sunday: Lack of offensive weapons.
The Cowboys' loss in San Francisco was much closer and much more competitive than Cincinnati’s pushing around the Bills, but there was a lack of weaponry that showed up with both divisional round losers. This might sound extreme, but if the Steelers and Bills combined their offenses, of course Josh Allen would be the starting quarterback and Stefon Diggs would be the top wide receiver. Of course. However, in the starting 11, there might only be one or two more Bills players.
Buffalo has been far too reliant on Allen doing Superman impersonations and Diggs winning time and time again against coverage schemes designed to take him away first and foremost. Gabriel Davis blew up against the Steelers and has had some big moments in his career, but he would be the third receiver on this team behind Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. Buffalo’s offensive line is worse than the Steelers, but their starting left tackle or center could be upgrades over Dan Moore and Mason Cole, but not by leaps and bounds.
And, despite playing their home games in one of the most brutal climates in the NFL late in the year, Buffalo refuses to employ a big power running back in the mold of Najee Harris. Allen and Diggs weren’t superhuman on Sunday. And now the Bills are eliminated.
As for Dallas, they flirted with brining in Odell Beckham to pair with CeeDee Lamb and decided against it. This isn’t to imply that Beckham should have been signed, but the instant that Tony Pollard went down against the 49ers, Dallas’ offense was cooked. Because outside of Lamb, they didn’t have a playmaker remaining with any juice. Dalton Schultz is an above average tight end, but not someone opposing defenses fear. Ezekiel Elliott is a shell of what he once was, and Michael Gallup doesn’t look like his old self while coming back from a serious injury. So, without Pollard, much as was the case with the Bills, it left Lamb and not much else. And now the Cowboys are eliminated.
In the NFL playoffs, if a team has a weakness, it will be exposed. Always. That doesn’t mean said weakness will inevitably lead to elimination, but it will show up at some point and it will be exposed. There are a lot of ways to team build and there isn’t one correct answer to that riddle. But, what are some key takeaways we can gather from the remaining four teams?
Let’s start with the Chiefs, who are set to play in their fifth straight AFC Championship game. Well, they are a tough one because they have the best football player on the planet in Patrick Mahomes, who is the greatest deodorant you will ever find for masking team weaknesses. No one else has Mahomes. The Steelers don’t have Mahomes. However, the Steelers do have continuity and stability much like Kansas City. Andy Reid will end up in the Hall of Fame. Mike Tomlin should as well. There is great value in having head coaches, ownership and culture that exists with the Chiefs and Steelers come playoff time.
How about the AFC North rival Bengals? Well, they have the second-best quarterback on the planet in Joe Burrow, which is a heck of a start. And Burrow is throwing to a simply fantastic group of wide receivers. To imply that Kenny Pickett could ascend as quickly as Burrow is probably quite unreasonable. However, if I were Pickett this offseason, I would study every snap of Burrow’s career and try to pattern myself very much in his likeness as a quick processor that will hang in the pocket but has evolved in all facets of his game in such a short amount of time.
This might make Steelers fans sick to their stomachs, as they will be dealing with Burrow for quite some time, but the combination of accuracy, mobility, pocket presence, command for the game and toughness is simply amazing for an NFL quarterback with his level of experience. Pickett could absolutely incorporate some of Burrow’s playing style into the way he approaches the game as well.
In the big picture, it is important to note that physical AFC North football also still plays very well in January. The Bengals beat up on Buffalo on both sides of the ball and were clearly the much more physical football team.
Another thing to look at from the Bengals in their defensive makeup. Much as Bill Belichick has done over the years, Cincinnati wants a defense that can morph week to week, half to half or drive to drive to adjust to their opponent. Being adaptable on defense is a great strength. And no one does that better than the Bengals right now.
But, the Steelers' defense has showed a propensity to alter the way they play, especially during the second half of the season, based on opponent. This is no longer a base 3-4 defense with zone blitz principles as their staple. The Steelers adjust defensively very well week to week based on opponent. Playing against Baltimore and Cincinnati couldn’t be more different, and the Steelers look for -- and should continue to look for -- defensive players with a wide array of strengths.
What is going on in the NFC is more difficult to mimic, but there are important takeaways, nonetheless. In terms of roster construction, no team in football stresses the big people on both sides of the ball more than Philadelphia -- and it isn’t particularly close. That being said, the Eagles traded away a first round pick to land A.J. Brown in the most recent draft. And, in the draft class before that, Philadelphia selected Devonta Smith in the first round.
Philadelphia now has the best roster in the league, but just one year ago the Eagles barely snuck into the playoffs and were totally dismantled by Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round. There were huge concerns about Jalen Hurts at that point of his career, but much like Pickett can do over the next year, the young quarterback took a major stride forward on his own accord, as well as being surrounded by better players. Why can’t Pickett?
The only team that values defensive linemen as much as the Eagles is San Francisco and that is the foundation of both fantastic defenses. When in doubt, add another killer up front on defense. The Steelers certainly could take this approach.
The story in San Francisco of late has been the offense and Brock Purdy. Purdy has played very well, but what is asked of him is just much easier than almost any other NFL starting quarterback. Kyle Shanahan is the NFL’s best designer of offense and Purdy is throwing to an elite group of pass catchers that are supremely gifted after the catch-often in the middle of the field, something the Steelers need to do more of. The Steelers could certainly use more in-breaking route concepts, and no one does it better than San Francisco. In fact, the 49ers are quite possibly the best in the league in the middle of the field on both offense and defense.
But, back to Purdy and his side of the ball. No offense has more “position-less” skill players than San Francisco. Rarely does Purdy even have to make a contested tight window throw. Getting Pickett in such a situation as soon as next year simply isn’t going to happen with how the Steelers’ passing game is constructed, but as is the case with every offensive coordinator in the league -- Matt Canada and company would be out of their minds not to study and steal from what Shanahan is doing for Purdy.
Here is a compilation of Purdy’s highlights last week against Dallas. Do you see many difficult throws on this reel? He is delivering the football well, but Purdy also isn’t asked to drive into tight spaces. That is all offensive play design, as well as his weapons helping the rookie out a great deal.
This sets up as an excellent pair of games on Sunday displaying the NFL’s four best teams. Could the Steelers be in that equation one year from now? Of course, it is a long shot, but there is much that Philadelphia, San Francisco, Kansas City and Cincinnati are putting on display for the Steelers to learn from and make their own.