Steelers fan confidence continues to grow, even after loss to Browns in Week 17

The Pittsburgh Steelers fan base had been down, but their Week 17 performance has fans believing again, sort of.

The Pittsburgh Steelers fan base can be a fickle bunch. Even when their favorite team was 6-0, there was skepticism among the black and gold following. Even after their win over the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans, many fans called the Steelers “lucky” to escape with a 27-24 win.

To those fans, the end result doesn’t matter.

However, after two straight games where they were forced to come from behind, Week 8 vs. the Baltimore Ravens and Week 9 vs. the Dallas Cowboys, fans are anything but certain about their favorite NFL franchise.

What would it take to raise the fan confidence? A dominant performance, and that is exactly what the Steelers delivered in Week 10 with a 36-10 win over the division rival Cincinnati Bengals. Combine that with another dominant defensive performance vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11, and the fans are feeling right.

But it was at this juncture in the season when things started to go off the rails. COVID-19 changed up the plans with the Steelers and Ravens in Week 12, and the Washington Football Team dealt the team their first loss of the season in Week 13. How did the Steelers finish off their third game in twelve days? A Sunday night loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. Week 15 had the Steelers staring at a “get right” game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football, but what they got was a third straight loss as they were embarrassed on national television for the second straight week.

Week 16 saw the Steelers host the red-hot Indianapolis Colts, and when all seemed lost, the Steelers had a tremendous come from behind win to pull off the upset, snap their losing streak and clinch the AFC North division title since 2017. The next week, with the division locked up, the Steelers backups played valiantly, but lost to the Browns heading into the playoffs.

Was it enough to convince fans to start believing again?

Here at SB Nation we poll fans every week in our SB Nation “Reacts” polls, and one of the questions asked is whether you have confidence in your team moving forward. As you can see, the confidence took another hard nose dive heading into Week 17.

If you want to know just how the fan confidence has changed since the end of the 2019 season, you can see the percentages below:

End of 2019: 59%
Pre NFL Free Agency: 72%
Post 2020 NFL Draft: 81%
Heading into Week 1: 90%
Heading into Week 2: 94%
Heading into Week 3: 87%
Heading into Week 4: 90%
Heading into Week 5: 83%
Heading into Week 6: 82%
Heading into Week 7: 97%
Heading into Week 8: 94%
Heading into Week 9: 98%
Heading into Week 10: 88%
Heading into Week 11: 95%
Heading into Week 12: 96%
Heading into Week 13: 97%
Heading into Week 14: 52%
Heading into Week 15: 24%
Heading into Week 16: 17%
Heading into Week 17: 56%
Heading into the Wild Card Round: 76%

The Steelers are hosting FC North rivals, Cleveland Browns, in the Wild Card round of the AFC Playoffs, and needless to say, fans are excited to see these two division teams go head-to-head. Speaking of that Wild Card game, the 12-4 Steelers will play the COVID ravished Browns. Who do the fans think will win this game?

Take a look…

What do you think about the team moving forward? Are you confident in their ability to continue to improve? Or have we seen the best of this Steelers team? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black and gold as they play the Browns this Sunday in the postseason.