The Big Lead

Haters and Doubters No Longer Welcome on the Steelers' Bandwagon

By Stephen Douglas

Not pictured: Any Doubt.
Not pictured: Any Doubt. / Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off their first loss of the season on Monday Early Evening Football against the Washington Football Team. Now they are turning around on a short week to travel to Buffalo to play the 9-3 Bills, who are coming off a statement win on real Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers. With all that factored in, the Bills are a 2.5-point favorite (per The Action Network), which seems reasonable. Still, this is the NFL where disrespect must be manufactured and reacted to. With that in mind, here is part of Cam Heyward's appearance on Friday's edition of Good Morning Football.

The gist of the clip is that everyone is picking the Bills to win this weekend and jumping off the Steelers' bandwagon. Here is Heyward's response.

"When we climb the mountain, there's not gonna be room for you on the trip."

First of all, you cannot stop me from climbing that mountain. If I want to climb championship mountain and celebrate at Super Bowl summit, there is nothing any of the Steelers can do just because I place a healthy wager on the Bills this week.

Second of all, how many people really jumped off the 11-1 Steelers' bandwagon after one loss to team that has now won three straight games and is starting to come together and look like a reasonably competent team? As it stands, the Bills have the third-best record in the AFC and fourth-best record in the league. They're a good team playing at home and they're a slight favorite. It makes sense that people would bet on them.

I really want to point out that not everything is a grand slight, but the truth is, every single athlete is basically Pete Weber. Despite being at the top of their profession, they have to believe that no one else believes in them, like the last scene of every movie.

If these guys were really climbing a mountain they'd get to the top and complain about the animals they passed on their way up. "We heard the talk throughout the climb. They thought we were baaaaaad, but we showed them. Who do you ewe think you are? I am! Now who's the goat?"