City of Ch..Waiting?
The next several years in Pittsburgh could be some trying times for the fair weathered fans. Many people will hop off the black and gold express in the next few years. You see, the Steelers will not have a franchise quarterback (unless we possibly go 4-13 this season, which COULD happen) the Penguins have finally started to get old, Crosby and Malkin of 2021 are not the Crosby and Malkin of 2010. The Pirates? Well guess what out of the three teams they may actually be on the best path of them all but they are still several years away from turning things around.
You see people in Pittsburgh hate to wait and quite frankly have been spoiled over the years. 6 Super Bowls, 5 Stanley Cups, and 5 World Series Victories (though I was 5 the last time we did the last one 1979). The Steelers have not had a losing season under Mike Tomlin (14 years) and let me be the first to say we need to have one this season. First off, this team is not good enough to go anywhere. Our young defense has a shot to be special, but it won’t be able to be on the field 35-40 minutes a game. A bad season, and I mean a bad season (5-12, or worse) could get some help in town right away. I am not even saying quarterback, this offensive line needs to be tore down and built back up. Let Mason Rudolph take the reigns for a year, this is not an overnight fix people. Look at our division, besides Baltimore it has taken Cleveland and Cincinnati years to put respectable teams back on the field. I don’t believe our turnaround will take as long, but we are now a team with the 4th best quarterback in the division.
The Penguins are in a tougher spot than the Steelers. The superstars are all getting older (Crosby, Malkin, and Letang) and we do not have much in the way of help down in the minors. Years of Jim Rutherford trading #1 picks to help now has caught up to the organization. I don’t fault Rutherford as the window to win with Crosby and Malkin was there for the taking. This team needs youth, a future netminder they trust, and some sort of structure going forward. I am not sure if Mike Sullivan is the type of coach to win with a young, unproven team. If the Pens believe in Tristan Jarry that is fine but make that decision now.
The Pirates out of the three have done what was needed to turn around the franchise. Is it going to happen next year? NO. But the path towards winning has been made. The Pirates now have a top 3 minor league system to go with Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds as anchors to the lineup.
As I said earlier people in Pittsburgh hate to wait, and they will bitch about every single loss. You will hear fire Tomlin, Ben sucks, Sullivan needs to go, what is Hextall doing, Nutting sucks!……etc…etc…etc. It is going to be some long, dark years ahead.