Advertisement

Bill Cowher Provides hope to Pittsburgh’s ‘Stairway to Seven’

Bill Cowher
Bill Cowher

Many people (myself included) believe that the 2016 version of the Pittsburgh Steelers have the opportunity to play for a Super Bowl title.

Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher is the latest to drink the Steelers-to-the-Super-Bowl Kool-Aid. I think out of all those that have the experience and knowledge about the Steelers’ chances, Cowher would know.

I think the Steelers have a great chance because quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been playing some of his best football over the past few seasons. Wide receiver Antonio Brown has been the best receiver in the game and is just hitting his prime.


AROUND COVER32

NFL: Ranking each team’s best QB/WR/RB combinations

UNDERDOG: Daniel Brown is ready for Ravens training camp

NFL: The past week’s news in review

2016 Preview: Comeback player of the year candidates

Steelers News: Toussaint gets opportunity with Bell gone

Steelers News: Is Le’Veon Bell the next Santonio Holmes?


Cowher also believes in Roethlisberger and those around him. It’s pretty obvious that the Steelers big three offensive players should bring a lot of success.

However, this success does determine on how well the offensive line can protect Roethlisberger. If he will hit the numbers he has producing over the last few seasons, Roethlisberger will need a stellar offensive line performance to keep the title hopes in tact all season.

“With this offense, you are talking about a pretty good offensive line,” Cowher said via Steelers.com. “David DeCastro might be one of the best guards in the league and we all know it starts up front with them.”

Sadly for the Steelers, the old football cliché isn’t offenses win championships. No, that pressure and hope is relied on the defense. The one knock on the Steelers roster is they lack talent on defense – especially in the secondary.

If there is one thing that Cowher knows is defense. Pittsburgh has a storied past when it comes to defensive-minded football and Cowher added to that tradition for 14 years.

“They have two special ends in Stephon Tuitt and Cam Heyward,” Cowher explained. “I think those guys are really dynamic. Then you have Ryan Shazier and when he is on the field he is a presence to be felt. The outside linebackers, you are going to see if Bud Dupree can develop into the long legacy of great outside linebackers. James Harrison is a great teacher for them as well. Jarvis Jones can pick up where he left off.

“But it’s going to be measured by the secondary. They have some young guys. They are encouraged by Artie Burns and what he can bring to the table. Keith Butler is a very good football coach. He knows what he has. He also knows how to utilize what he has in the secondary in terms of experience and youth.”

If I were to draw from an example of a team that said lacked defense in the professional sports world, I would have to go to the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors had an amazing year with a seemingly unbeatable offensive and several so-so performances on defense. For the Warriors, the lack of defense didn’t matter in the long run when the offense put up an absurd amount of points.

It will be much of the same for the Steelers who can put up a lot of points and just have to stop the opposing offense one more time than the offense scores.

If you haven’t bought into the hype and don’t quite believe if the Steelers can contend for a Super Bowl, maybe you can buy what Cowher is selling.

The post Bill Cowher Provides hope to Pittsburgh’s ‘Stairway to Seven’ appeared first on Cover32.