Well Super Bowl XLVIII didn’t quite end the way Steelers Nation wanted, not that the faithful had an overriding rooting interest in the outcome. Still John Fox, as a representative of the Chuck Noll Coaching Tree, had a chance to add to the Tree’s Lombardi count and came up very short as Peyton Manning pulled a…. Peyton Manning.
As it stands, the Chuck Noll Coaching Tree’s Lombardi count remains at 6, counting Chuck Noll’s 4, Tony Dungy’s 1 and Mike Tomlin’s 1. 6 Lombardi’s is nothing to sneeze at, but it would have been nice to see Fox pad the total with a 7th, if for no other reason that Fox and Tomlin the only one’s left to continue the Emperor’s legacy.
Unfortunately, Fox’s team look woefully unprepared, as pointed out by Behind the Steel Curtain editor Neal Coolong. Adding insult to injury was the Hall of Fame Selection committee’s decision to black ball Jerome Bettis.
Still, all was not lost.
Seattle Wins Playing Steelers Football
Steelers Nation can take heart in a moral victory of sorts. Defense has always provided the foundation for the Pittsburgh Steelers greatness. Yet, the NFL today is all about offense. The old adage that “Offense wins games, defense wins championships” has been replaced by new conventional wisdom that “Perfect offense defeats perfect defense.”
- Except in this case Seattle’s defense was far more perfect that Denver’s supposedly unstoppable offensive juggernaut
And the running game, another staple of Steelers football, also played large in Seattle’s title run.
Of course once Steelers Nation finishes patting itself on the back for this “moral victory” (should they choose to do so – few other Steelers outlets are pedaling this line) there then comes a sobering reality:
- Seattle’s defense is far more potent than the Steelers defense is now, or is likely to be in the near future. Le’Veon Bell, however is closer to reviving the Steelers running game.
If there is a bright side, it is that Seattle built it defense quickly. Does it seem like it can only be three seasons ago that the Steelers shut out Seattle in their rebound for the Debacle in Baltimore? No it doesn’t. But three seasons it is.
All the more reason for Kevin Colbert and company to make this draft count while Ben Roethlisberger‘s championship viability remains.
Excuse Making to Stop?
Seattle’s victory in Super Bowl XLVIII brings another potential plus to Steelers Nation. It perhaps opens the door to the possibility that the incessant and annoying excuse making for Super Bowl XL might stop.
The Steelers won Super Bowl XL fair and square bringing Jerome Bettis “home” in the process and perhaps now that they have their own Lombardi to shine, Seattle fans will accept that fact and move on.
Pittsburgh Steelers Fan Club of Buenos Aires Predicts Super Bowl, Outcome
As we close the page on the NFL’s 2013 Season it is only fair to recognize who got it right, from the very get go. And he happens to be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers Fan Club of Buenos Aires.
Carlos Montaldo is an Argentine in his 40’s who speaks little English and has never been to Pittsburgh. He’s also a Steelers fan (and an upstairs neighbor.) And he LOVES football (the real kind, not futbol).
Very early in the season, he predicted that the Super Bowl would come down to Denver and Seattle. He stuck to it all year long. And when everyone and his brother was predicting a Denver victory, Carlos called it for the Seahawks – and backed it up with 100 dollars (and that is no small expression of confidence, if you know how precious dollars are in Argentina.)
Kudos to you Carlos!
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