Out of all of the Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the past decade, the 2017 team was the one that ‘could have been’. This was the year the Steelers went 13-3 and finished as the second seed and things fell apart. It wasn’t about the Jesse James catch, though. It was about what happened on the defense after Ryan Shazier’s injury.
Their first-round pick in 2014, Shazier was a day-one starter, though injuries early on limited his availability and opportunities. He made significant strides in year two, and developed into a Pro Bowler by 2016. A year later, he was truly one of the best linebackers in the league, and it seemed that the sky was the limit for what he could do.