Ben Roethlisberger bleeds black and gold—always has, always will. Eighteen years, two rings, 418 touchdowns… the guy is forever a Steelers fan. But even Big Ben cannot defend this crew for so long. Heading into the Dublin matchup, he was all in on Pittsburgh. But something made him pump the brakes for a minute there. He had the Steelers winning (well, depending on when the teams land), but that confidence faded away really quickly after some realizations hit him.

“I’m still a little nervous about this game,” Ben Roethlisberger admitted. “I’m being honest….I have us as a W, and I’m changing my mind….Unfortunately. I have a fear that our offense is not going to be able to do enough….our defense will play fine. I don’t think our offense will do enough this week.” 

But why? The answer to this, per Ben Roethlisberger, is Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. “I’m afraid of our line that they’re not going to get it done, and they’re going to, and Flores is going to take advantage of it because he’s a very good defensive coordinator. He knows what he’s doing. We never should have let him go, and he’s going to find a way to attack, and our defense isn’t going to be able to do enough to keep us in the game.” And these are fair concerns. The offense was always going to be a problem, and they haven’t done anything to prove analysts wrong.

So far, the Steelers have been averaging 184 passing yards (24th across the league) and 63 rushing yards (30th across the league). And Aaron Rodgers is not quite living up to the hype so far. His debut against the Jets had fans dreaming big after four touchdowns and zero picks, but the cracks are already showing. Pro Football Focus gave him a 56.2 grade for Week 1, ranking him 24th among QBs.

Why’d Rodgers end up ranked 24th? Well, two absolute near-disasters. First, that IG route thrown behind Calvin Austin III that should’ve been picked, and then another throw under pressure that Jets corner Brandon Stephens nearly took away. The bigger picture doesn’t really add to his case, either. In three games, he’s only racked up 586 yards with 7 TDs and 3 picks. But it’s not like the offense is helping him out, either.

Rodgers has been sacked seven times in three games this season. When you add all this up, it makes sense that Ben doesn’t want to put big money on them. And it’s not just that the offense is bad. There’s Brian Flores to think about. The DC started with the Steelers as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach back in 2022. Then, he quickly moved on to become the Vikings’ DC in 2023. As a result, he turned their defense into one of the most lethal units in the league in just two years.

In just his second season as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, Brian Flores had their defense clicking. They ranked second in defensive DVOA and opponent EPA (expected points added) per play. They were shutting teams down every single week. To put that into perspective in simpler numbers, they were fifth in points allowed and tied for first in total takeaways. And for a poor Steelers offense to go up against the Brian-led defense at Croke Park in Dublin on September 28? Hope doesn’t really come into the picture, does it? Not for Ben…and Terry Bradshaw.

Terry Bradshaw gives up on the Steelers

After Rodgers arrived and TJ Watt locked in that huge extension, a lot of folks thought the Steelers were finally ready to make a run at the Lombardi. But Terry Bradshaw doesn’t share that sentiment. He talked about everything that went wrong and the reasons why they cannot compete for the big trophy in the near future.

“They’re never going to fire Mike Tomlin,” Bradshaw said. “They’ve made the playoffs (a lot in his) 18 years, if he wins it, he’ll go again 19 years. They don’t have the team. It takes offense, defense, takes it all, takes coaching.” He went on to say that every time they get great players (Antonio Brown in question), they don’t pay him the money they want, and players end up leaving. “They’re always competitive, but they’re past being a contender. They’re not a contender,” Bradshaw remarked.

The Steelers came out swinging on Sunday, forcing five turnovers in their 21-14 win over the Patriots. Rodgers even threw the go-ahead touchdown. But Bradshaw isn’t buying that Rodgers is the same guy he used to be. “He’s truly one of the greats that we’ve had but not now, not at this stage of his life unless he’s on a great football team and that’s not a great football team,” he said.

Bradshaw also questioned the offensive line that has allowed Aaron Rodgers to be sacked seven times this season. He remarked that the offensive line has been poor in the last few years and has no idea why the front office hasn’t gone out and fixed it. “Why they haven’t addressed it to try and fix it, I don’t know. Receivers are basically so-so,” he noted. So, we can call the Week 4 matchup a do-or-die situation. At least the hopes of fans will die if they lose.