Paul Zeise: Steelers win against Ravens would just prolong the cycle of delusion

Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 6, 2025

Published in Football

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PITTSBURGH — The Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens are two teams trying really hard to keep their heads above water.

They are both 6-6 and will meet Sunday, and the winner will be in first place in the AFC North — and mostly because the other two teams in the division are horrific.

I can't help but wonder if the best thing for the collective psyche and mental health of Steelers fans would be that they not only lose but get rocked in a way that makes it very clear they are no longer a team on the brink of some sort of miraculous run to the Super Bowl.

It would be over, and we could stop clinging to the idea that all they have to do is get into the "dance" and once they do anything can happen. That is what I call the cycle of delusion that Steelers fans, apologists, observers, Teflon Tomlin media fan boys and many of the like have been stuck in for years.

They live and die with every loss and treat every victory as proof the Steelers are still one of the premier teams in the NFL. They point to the fact that the Steelers beat the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts as proof they can beat anyone if they just pull it all together.

I fear for some of these people, because if the Steelers go in to Baltimore and win and look more than competent doing it, then their "I told you so" programming will kick back on. Notice it has been off for two weeks as the Steelers have played poorly in their last two games, but all it will take is a win in Baltimore to get them back on the bandwagon.

Never mind that the Ravens stink, too. Never mind that the Ravens' best player, Lamar Jackson, is hobbled and has looked like a shell of himself in recent weeks. Never mind that the Ravens' coach, John Harbaugh, can't get out of his own way most gamedays. And never mind that the Ravens' once-vaunted defense is a sieve.

None of that will matter if the Steelers win, as there is still a crowd of delusional people who look for every sign and signal that they are still capable of rising out of the ashes and into glory. And if the Steelers win this game — I predict they will, by the way — they will talk as if the Steelers just beat the Ravens of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed fame, as opposed to this version.

I predict the Steelers will win because the Ravens I have watched in recent weeks can't protect their quarterback and can't stop opposing offenses. And since Jackson at this point in time is not the dynamic runner that he usually is, the Ravens' offense is pedestrian.

True, I just described the Steelers' offense as well, but I expect Aaron Rodgers to be just good enough to score enough points to win the game. Maybe it is a war of attrition or a battle of the mediocre, but either way a win is a win is a win.

The issue to me is what a win means for the Steelers and more importantly the dwindling masses that still believe in them and still believe Teflon Tomlin is always capable of finding a rabbit to pull out of his magic top hat.

That and the fact that the division is so pathetic are two reasons why you can't completely write off the Steelers and their chances to make the playoffs. They might not legitimately be a playoff-caliber team, but that doesn't mean they can't make the playoffs.

I also fear if the Steelers do make the playoffs, it will be enough for the owner and the front office and everyone associated with the team to be able to dust off the same tired lines about how a playoff season is never a disappointment.

And then they will refrain from making the kinds of wholesale changes that probably need to happen for the Steelers to return to their rightful place as one of the premier franchises in the NFL. They will cling to the idea their way is working and they will not try to fix the things that hold them back.

It feels like this could be a year when the Steelers make those changes but only if they don't make the playoffs and only if it is clear they are just not good enough. Even then I would not bet the farm that Art Rooney II and those who make decisions would take a good, hard look at things and demand some real changes.

The Steelers absolutely can win Sunday in Baltimore and take back first place in the AFC North, but for their sake and the sake of their future the best thing that can happen is they lose for the third game in a row.

They have been hovering around mediocrity for far too long but are still delusional about their place in the NFL and just how close they are to a Super Bowl. That has led them into complacency, and that is an incredibly hard place to escape.

I know the usual suspects will be ready to pounce if the Steelers do win but it won't change the fact that they aren't a good football team. It just means they are better than the Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns — and that's certainly an extremely low bar to reach.