The Pittsburgh Steelers raised their ceiling to Super Bowl contention after offseason acquisitions Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf, an ESPN insider believes.
On Thursday’s “First Take,” Peter Schrager surprised his fellow ESPN panelists with his optimism surrounding the Steelers. Stephen A. Smith got out of his chair to hug his new coworker, who joined The Worldwide Leader earlier this year. Kimberley A. Martin called it “crazy talk,” telling Schrager to save the hot takes for the season.
“I believe it, though,” Schrager said. “I honestly do.”
Schrager referenced the segment when discussing the Steelers on “NFL Live” later that day. He garnered a “Woah!” from host Laura Rutledge when mentioning that he floated Pittsburgh as Super Bowl contenders.
“They didn’t make these moves to just to get to where they were the last few years. Which is a nice Saturday or Sunday-afternoon Wild Card game, and then get bounced out of the playoffs,” Schrager said. “They could have very easily done a half measure here. They could have signed another quarterback, or they could have panicked when Rodgers wasn’t there in April and May.
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“Instead, they waited all this way. And they did trade a second-round pick and paid DK Metcalf $30 million. Those are not the moves of a team that’s rebuilding. That’s the moves of a team that sees things happening this year with a window.”
Schrager called Arthur Smith an “underrated offensive mind,” noting that the Steelers offensive coordinator hasn’t coached a high-end quarterback since spending the 2021 season with Matt Ryan on the Atlanta Falcons. The former “Good Morning Football” personality thinks Smith and Rodgers can steer last season’s 23rd-ranked offense to significant improvement.
“I think there is a great, great possibility that this Pittsburgh offense is a lot different and a lot better than many are expecting it to be,” Schrager declared.
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Schrager’s support is typically a good harbinger for title contenders. He had successfully predicted the last five Super Bowl champions before picking the Kansas City Chiefs to defeat the Green Bay Packers last year.
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