PITTSBURGH — The Steelers with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback were always viewed as one of the battle-tested, veteran-laden teams that knew how to win the playoffs.
It made sense because Roethlisberger led the Steelers to two Super Bowl titles and a third Super Bowl appearance from 2004 to 2010, and many of the players from that era remained on the roster for several years. And that was followed by the "Killer Bs" era from 2013 to 2018 when, powered by Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell, the Steelers had a run of some degree of success. That era is often thought of as underachieving and it probably was, but they did have double-digit wins four years in a row and won three division titles and three playoff games during that run.
So the Steelers have been blessed to have a lot of players who have tasted playoff success with the organization and thus have always served as mentors to the new players coming through the door. There has seemingly always, going back into the 1980s, been a group of players on the roster who had experienced some degree of success.
That is until now, as this is a completely different era of Steelers football. Let's call it the "era of the unknown" or the "dawn of a new day" because this Steelers roster is unlike any I can remember, at least in my time covering the team going back to the mid-1990s.
The Steelers last achieved a playoff win on Jan. 15, 2017, on the heels of the 2016 season. They beat the Chiefs, 18-16, that day at Arrowhead Stadium and that sent them to the AFC championship game for the first time since 2010.
That was five years ago, and the roster has obviously turned over a great deal since then. In fact, a quick examination of that 2016-17 roster and comparing it to the 2022-23 roster shows that there are only three players remaining.
One is a kicker, Chris Boswell, who is one of the best players on the team relative to his position, but he is still a kicker and they aren't usually team leaders.
The second player on the roster who has experienced a playoff win with the Steelers is Stephon Tuitt. He is obviously a dominant player, but he missed last season and his status is still not known for 2022.
So on second thought, we can call this the "Cam Heyward era" of the Steelers because he is the only other player besides Boswell and Tuitt who has experienced winning in the playoffs with the Steelers. And Heyward is clearly a team leader, one of the elder statesmen in the league and one of the team's legitimate All-Pro players.
Heyward is a fantastic mentor and role model for younger players and the last of an almost-extinct group of players — Steelers who remember what it's like to win playoff games.
Winning doesn't come with the uniform colors. It is a learned behavior and one Heyward needs to teach these younger players. Nobody cares that the Steelers won six Super Bowls and have had countless division titles and playoff wins in the past.
Obviously Mike Tomlin remains in charge and he has led them to two Super Bowls, but both of his coordinators from the 20176-17 season are gone and he has had plenty of staff turnover since then, as well. And it still comes down to players, and in terms of having players who have experienced winning playoff games, the Steelers have the least amount in the division as the Bengals, Browns and Ravens have all won playoff games within the last two seasons.
This is a tough time for Steelers fans because they are struggling to understand that. They still think the NFL views the Steelers as who they used to be as opposed to who they are. I happen to think the Steelers could get to the playoffs and maybe even could win a division title, but the odds are against them and truth be told, they are just as likely to go 7-10 as they are 10-7.
That is why offseason workouts and training camp are so important for this team. They no longer have a quarterback who knows how to lead them to improbable wins in the fourth quarter of games. They no longer are blessed with players who have experienced winning in the playoffs and all the other glory. They have a rebuilt offensive line, a rebuilt receiving corps, a second-year running back and tight end combination, and very few players on defense who have been with the team for more than three years.
The Steelers began the process of rebuilding a year or two ago, but it wasn't until Roethlisberger retired that they were able to fully move on and into this new era. The Steelers were able to fool themselves into thinking they were a contender as long as he was still the starting quarterback. But now that he is gone, the Steelers have officially ended the "Killer B" era and that means they are starting over with a roster that is almost devoid of players who know what it takes to win in the playoffs.
