Before the season began, the Pittsburgh Steelers were touted as a Super Bowl contender. A slimmed down Big Ben was throwing bullets at training camp. Antonio Brown was back, one of the best receivers in the game, if not the very best. And despite his evident dissatisfaction with the Steelers' management, Le'Veon Bell, one of the best if not the very best running back in the game, would still be a Steeler for at least this season.
In an unprecedented situation, Bell did not come back for training camp, then for much of the season. Nevertheless, after a shaky start, the Steelers compensated and started winning. They found another stellar running back in James Connor, and another wide receiver threat in JuJu-Smith Schuster. Their suspect defense jelled. The Steelers ripped off six straight victories and at 7-2-1 they seemed poised to win their division. With Bell widely believed to be rejoining the team, they could challenge anyone in the playoffs.
Then it all started to fall apart. Steelers management again would not meet Bell's demands, and he did not rejoin the team. Then the Steelers lost consecutive games to the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders. They rallied for a rare win against the Patriots before losing a must-win to the New Orleans Saints. Not only did they lose the division to a resurgent Baltimore, they didn't even make the playoffs. The season ended on the football field with a whimper, when Smith Schuster fumbled before the tying field goal could be attempted. An earlier game slipped away when a field goal attempt ended with the kicker falling down. An anemic victory over the Bengals came too late.
Some of it seemed like the law of averages catching up--they'd won a few games with last minute scores, then they lost a few when they didn't score at the end of the game. But there was trouble behind the scenes, and once the season was over, the whimper became a bang.
The explosions are still going on. Antonio Brown seems about to be in open warfare against his coach and Steelers management. Other players are at each other's throats in social media. This team is blowing itself up, and nobody knows who is going to be left standing.
The factors involved seem to range from Steelers' management's fatal errors in dealing with Bell to the multiplier effect of social media in creating drama. This is not the cohesive, disciplined Steelers team of historical lore. It's a mind-boggling sight for Steelers fans, and it's far from over.
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