A tie with a winless team illustrates that the Steelers are in a 26-year-drought


Tie with 0-8 Lions, Steelers are a long way from a Super Bowl


… Lions’ tie reveals how far away they are from ever seeing the Super Bowl


The success of a football program is measured by how many times the team has captured championships. It is not determined by the won-loss record, though some may marvel in that. 


In the NFL, that is how many times the Lombardi Trophy has been captured by that team. On the college level, it is how many times a program has captured a national championship. 


In my younger years in the 1950s and 60s, the Pittsburgh Steelers were horrible, and as much as I complained to my father about switching allegiances, he said no.


However, that deplorable record changed in 1969 when the Rooneys hired Chuck Noll as their coach and drafted Mean Joe Greene with their number 1 pick, someone whom Steeler fans never heard of in ’69.


They know him now, the bedrock of Steeler Nation. 


The rest, as they say, is history. In 1972, the Steelers participated in the playoffs for the first time, defeating the Oakland Raiders and John Madden in the awesome “Immaculate Reception” victory. 


Then, finally, in the 1974 season, they captured their first Super Bowl, and followed that with three more, four in six years, still a record. That was the foundation of Steeler Nation, but those fans today have no sense of the history. 


We are back in the 26-year-drought


From the final Super Bowl in Chuck’s tenure, in 1979, the Steelers went through a drought. For the next 26 years, the team came tantalizingly close, but never won another one. 


In 1996, Bill Cowher team reached it but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. However, it was not until the 2005 season that the team finally broke that drought with a 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Cowher had many opportunities to reach the Super Bowl, but he infamously lost four AFC title games in five years — all at home. 


That gave the team five, the “one for the thumb.”


Then after Cowher retired, Mike Tomlin won his first and only one after the 2008 season, 13 years ago. 


Now, the Steelers are back in that 26-year drought, the one that started in 1979 and ended in 2005, and with their pitiful performance in Sunday’s game against 0-8 Detroit, reality should have set in for fans: The team has not won a Lombardi since the 2009 season, and with the death of talent and coaching acumen that is present with the current team, we are 12 years into the 26-year drought number. 


Here is a sample of the glory days. 


Steeler Super Bowls


Seasons


Chuck Noll


1974, def. Minnesota Vikings, 16-6

1975, def. Dallas Cowboys, 21-17

1978, def. Dallas Cowboys, 35-31

1979, def L.A. Rams, 31-19


Bill Cowher


2005, def. Seattle Seahawks, 21-10


Mike Tomlin


2008, def. Arizona Cardinals, 27-23


Contemporary reality


The truth is that the Steelers have a talent deficit,

from top to bottom. Some of their talent is terribly overrated, some is just pitiful, and some is just middling. 


Nevertheless, when you tie the team with the worst record in the league, when you should have lost to decimated teams like the Bears, Broncos, and Seahawks, the latter of whom were playing a QB who had not started a game in something like five years, you are not very good. 


Now, the Steelers face the toughest part of their schedule. Tomlin may again avoid a losing season if he goes 8-8-1 with wins over losing teams, but the program is headed downward. 


If the 26-year-drought analogy works, then 2034 will be the year in which they MAY again win a Super Bowl. That, however, is contingent upon the departures of the current CEO and head coach. 


By that time, too, I will probably have passed since I will be 90. Maybe not, but I probably will not care any longer. 





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