I was wrong. Sort of.

How on earth has it already been eight weeks?! It feels like yesterday we were salivating anxiously over the enigmatic path the Steelers might take during the long nights of August. Now, out of seemingly nowhere, the regular season is halfway done, order is being established and experiences in London, Leeds, Birmingham, Paris, Manchester and afar have been had. And with all that said, the Steelers find themselves 6-2, in first place of arguably, the most competitive division in the NFL. 

With a bye week imminent, the current headspace for me is a strange one. Of course, a 6-2 start is welcome; as has been said multiple times now, Pittsburgh has found themselves 6-2 before and gone on to win Three Super Bowls. However, it must be stressed the strength of schedule thus far has been very soft in contradiction to the much tougher second half on paper at least. Of course, the Ravens and Eagles have become much more winnable contests, while the Texans have struggled; suddenly, an optimist’s dream of 11/12 wins is very much a possibility. 

What strikes me as interesting despite this is the pecking order remains unmoved as it pertains to Pittsburgh and the AFC. The Bengals and Ravens are still favoured by so called “experts” despite struggling against the 1-6 Titans and with the injury bug respectively; and whilst the Steelers convincingly put aside the Browns (An over-hyped Browns mind you), multiple talking heads are unmoved in their assessment of a team they feel is destined for the same old outcome just as I was at the start of the season… At best one and done. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. Like all of you I see the potential stumbling blocks: A passing game currently lacking explosion, thinness at Wideout and Defensive Back, which threaten to expose us down the road against the real behemoths. I still don’t see a Super Bowl team in the Steelers, but for the first time in a while there is a unique selling point to this team offering a legit threat to anyone that hasn’t done their homework to take us seriously. 

This brings me on to the head coach. While he is a good NFL coach, I was against the McCarthy hire for three primary reasons: Firstly, I am unconvinced McCarthy has the skills necessary to manage close games where leadership resides in clock management and situational football (See end of Bucs game). Two, I believe his hiring was indicative of a leadership structure interested in what was comfortable and risk averse (As well as the obvious circumvention of the Rooney rule in the process). And thirdly, I had doubts a 62 year old coach had the tools and willingness to adapt, given our offensive personnel appeared to be in direct odds with his historic offensive philosophy. 

To the third point, an apology is owed. Slowly but surely, we have seen the evolution towards a run heavy offense, Jalen Warren’s trajectory towards a pro bowl season is indicative of a head coach aware of what he has and while it has not been perfect, this is the most excited I've felt about a Steelers offense in nearly a decade. Ask a fair question, is there a Steeler that has not improved from last year? On both sides of the ball? I can’t say that there is one. The best part is, I don't think we've reached our final form yet either, I think this offense still has legs to evolve as McCarthy digs deeper into his bag of tricks. Consider that several plays failed on Sunday, not due to bad scheming but execution and suddenly the potential for this offense becomes very apparent. 

For me, the Steelers right now are like that rock band you enjoyed in small clubs and pubs before they got big. Those same talking heads pooh-poohing our legitimacy right now might be taking the Steelers a little more seriously if they handle Cincinnati and take Denver close, which I genuinely think they can. And like that rock band, I want it on record now that I can see the talent in this organisation before they went mainstream. 

Whether the McCarthy hire is considered an ultimate success still hinges on the next man under center of course. But for now, his first eight games are a demonstration of his stamp on things at least. At the start of the season if you asked me if the Steelers could win a playoff game, I'd say absolutely not. Now, I'm asking: why on earth not?!