I am a true fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, going all the way back to the Immaculate Reception game of the 1970’s. I’ve followed them through eight Super Bowl games and six championships; I’ve cheered at the highs and grumbled at the lows. I’ve called out the good days and I’ve made my point clear on the bad ones (longtime readers might know that I refuse to say a certain quarterback’s name in my blog).
That being said, I was extremely worried about this season. We just jettisoned our fragile quarterback Kenny Pickett, and brought in veterans Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to help prop up our sagging quarterback position (what is it with the Steelers picking up old Chicago Bears QB’s? Justin Fields, Mitch Trubisky, Mike Tomczak…). We traded away malcontent Diontae Johnson and hopefully strengthened our wide receiver division. We added some new beef to the defense, including acquiring Patrick Queen from the Baltimore Ratbirds. And we still have TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith and Cameron Heyward, which should make any opposing QB check their pants for brown stains.
But even with all that, I’m still crossing my fingers that this won’t be head coach Mike Tomlin’s first losing season. Ever.
And yesterday, when the Steelers visited the Atlanta Falcons for the opening game to Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season, I was worried. I already heard that Russell Wilson’s twinged calf injury would keep him from starting his “redemption season,” and that Justin Fields would take the reins as QB1 for this game. Okay. I can sorta live with this. I mean, it’s not like I have to worry about the Steelers warming up Mitch Trubisky on the sideline again…
But in the end, all it took was the right foot of Chris Boswell to give the Steelers a season-opening victory. Boswell nailed SIX field goals, including three from 50+ yardage – which was one shy of the NFL record for most 50+ FG’s in a single game – and helped Pittsburgh secure an 18-10 victory. Boswell even helped out on an emergency punting situation when our new punter got clobbered on a roughing-the-kicker no-call; Boswell, who is not a punter by trade, calmly booted a 40-yard line drive punt that the Falcons couldn’t return.
I mean, it’s not like Boswell hasn’t put the Steelers on his golden toe before.
I mean, it’s not like Boswell was responsible for the entire Steelers scoring output before … not at all …
And with the Ratbirds losing to Kansas City on Thursday, the Patriots clobbering the Cincinnati Bungles 16-10, and Dallas obliterating the Cleveland Clowns 33-17, guess who’s sitting atop the AFC North division right now …
In the words of the great Steelers announcer Myron Cope …
Double Yoi. And don’t you forget it.
Chuck The Writer 