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Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers haven't played in the postseason since the 2017 playoffs, when they were shocked at home by the Jaguars, 45-42. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Why it's crunch time for Steelers, these teams

Last updated 6/9/20

Training camps presumably will open in late July, but we're intensely focused on the NFL now. Yardbarker's Sam Robinson, Chris Mueller and Michael Nania weigh in on three teams that will feel the heat in 2020.

Steelers: Too much for Big Ben?

ROBINSON: The drafts from 1998-2005 produced six or seven Hall of Fame quarterbacks — depending on how Philip Rivers’ candidacy is judged — forming perhaps the position’s golden age. This group drove the NFL’s popularity for nearly 20 years and accounted for 14 Super Bowl titles between 2001-18. But with the Manning brothers retired, Rivers and Tom Brady changing teams, the Packers drafting Aaron Rodgers’ heir apparent and the Saints formulating the guts of a post-Drew Brees plan, the Steelers are the last team fully committed to the glory days. They are pinning their hopes on Ben Roethlisberger keeping their championship window open, thus raising the stakes for the 2020 team.

Last season’s Steelers crystallized Roethlisberger’s value. In 2018, Big Ben posted an NFL-most 5,129 passing yards and threw a career-high 34 touchdown passes for an offense that ranked sixth in DVOA. After Roethlisberger’s Week 2 season-ending elbow injury last year, Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph-Devlin Hodges QB timeshare piloted the NFL’s 32nd-ranked DVOA offense. Adding no quarterbacks this offseason, the Steelers are seemingly banking on the 38-year-old quarterback’s recovery from surgery.

But recall that Roethlisberger looked shaky before his injury. In one-and-a-half games without All-Pro Antonio Brown last season, Big Ben completed 56.5 percent of his passes and his yards-per-attempt number plummeted to 5.7 (small but not irrelevant sample size); his career figure is 7.8. Factor in the most severe injury he has suffered — in a career packed with nagging maladies — and the 17th-year passer has something to prove. Pittsburgh’s roster, however, is better than the one Roethlisberger last led, housing the franchise’s best tight end since Heath Miller (Eric Ebron), a more developed receiving corps and a reloaded defense.

While defensively powered Steelers teams helped the 20-something version of Roethlisberger reach three Super Bowls, the 2010s Steeler defenses let the over-30 version of their quarterback down. Injuries struck the Steelers at bad times, but Pittsburgh’s defense also folded in big spots. This undercut the Ben-Brown-Le’Veon Bell trio’s elite work. But the 2019 arrivals of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, first-round linebacker Devin Bush and cornerback Steven Nelson helped change the equation.

The Steelers ranked third in both pass- and run-defense DVOA last season, winning eight games despite the league’s worst QB situation. The defense is back nearly en masse, with defensive end Stephon Tuitt returning from injury and outside linebacker Bud Dupree on the franchise tag. This presents an excellent opportunity to pair a now-dependable defense with a (potentially) healthy Roethlisberger. But with Dupree on the tag, All-Pro defensive end Cam Heyward in a contract year at 31 and Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden also 31, key defensive bastions may join Roethlisberger in being on limited time.

Pro Bowl wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster and Pro Bowl running back James Conner entering contract years also amplifies the pressure on the 2020 Steelers. Should the COVID-19 fallout include a reduced 2021 salary cap, this expensive payroll would be affected more than that of most teams. If healthy, Roethlisberger should have Pittsburgh positioned as a sneaky Super Bowl contender. If he goes down again, the Steelers will rue not planning ahead at quarterback. And the second half of Roethlisberger’s career will double as one of the bigger missed opportunities in modern NFL history.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Cowboys: Talent, but nothing to show for it

MUELLER: How could it not be the Cowboys?

No team has a more urgent need to win — and win big — in 2020 than Dallas. Yes, that statement is cliché; if an organization identifies and brands itself as “America’s Team,” expectations are going to be high. It isn’t just Dallas’ oxygen-sucking presence in the NFL and sports landscape that makes 2020 such a high-stakes year, however. The Cowboys are not only trying to change a moribund playoff history this century but are also trying to figure out what they are for 2021 and beyond.

The Cowboys are just 3-7 in the postseason since 2000, and while the number of wins is alarmingly low, so is the number of playoff games. It’s hard to imagine that the league’s most visible, media-saturated organization has been so pitiful for so long. That they’ve experienced that degree of futility is even more surprising, considering the relatively strong quarterback play they’ve had for almost 15 years running. In retirement, Tony Romo’s career has been reconsidered, and he is now looked at by many analysts as one of the most underrated, underappreciated quarterbacks in recent memory. Dak Prescott’s career numbers place him in the upper tier of NFL quarterbacks despite his well-documented failures in big games.

Dallas’ chances in 2020 hinge largely on whether Prescott can deliver the goods in the biggest games. With WR CeeDee Lamb in the fold, he has a comical amount of talent around him and a new head coach and offensive collaborator in Mike McCarthy. If he can’t dominate with this supremely talented cast, it’s worth asking whether he ever will. Jerry Jones needs a definitive answer to that question, because this is the make-or-break year for Prescott and the team. If Prescott leads the Cowboys to a championship, he’ll get everything he wants in negotiations. If Dallas falters in the postseason, or worse yet, misses altogether for the second straight season, and third time in four years, the two sides could find themselves at an impasse.

Complicating matters and further driving a sense of urgency is the pandemic-fueled uncertainty regarding the salary cap. Dallas has $35.7 million committed to Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott for 2021, not to mention $22 million to DeMarcus Lawrence and $15 million to guard Zack Martin. All four are great — though Elliott’s time as an elite back may be ending sooner rather than later — but if there is a cap pinch, the Cowboys can’t afford to pay market-setting money to a quarterback who hasn’t won anything.

The pressure has been building in Dallas ever since Prescott’s stunning rookie season ended in playoff disappointment. He has piled up impressive statistics, but the Cowboys have remained inert with him under center. The Cowboys have one of the most talented rosters in football and nothing to show for it. There are other teams with tenuous Super Bowl windows, looming financial decisions or an existential expectation to win big. Only the Cowboys have all three, and that’s why no team is under more pressure in 2020.

After a terrific partnership in New England, tight end Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady are a formidable pair in Tampa Bay. Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Bucs: Tightest of championship windows

NANIA: Out of nowhere, Tampa Bay has suddenly been thrust into a tight window of championship opportunity. Tom Brady arrives, and the franchise's entire mentality changes — 12 straight seasons without a playoff appearance are in the rearview. No team fits the "win-now" tag more than Tampa Bay.

Despite the team's 7-9 record a year ago, this team has the infrastructure in place to give Brady championship-caliber support. Defensively, the Buccaneers are loaded. Led by defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay ranked fifth in defensive DVOA (12th vs. pass, first vs. run). The Buccaneers defense placed fifth-best on third down (34.4 percent conversion rate allowed) and yielded the third-least time of possession per drive (2:23), so they should be able to get Brady back on the field quickly.

Offensively, Brady has a borderline unfair array of weapons at his disposal, including the best duo of wide receivers in the league. Chris Godwin ranked second with 95.2 receiving YPG, and Mike Evans ranked fourth with 89.0. At tight end, the Bucs have an excellent trio with Cameron Brate, O.J. Howard and the unretired Rob Gronkowski.

Brady should enjoy much better protection than he was afforded in 2019. Pro Football Focus ranked the Bucs offensive line as the league's seventh best in 2019, led by center Ryan Jensen and left guard Ali Marpet. Tampa Bay drafted Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs with the 13th overall pick, further bolstering an already excellent unit.

Brady signed a two-year deal, so the Buccaneers could still have another crack at it in 2021, but things change quickly in the NFL, so that's no guarantee. When you have an opportunity to win a title, you must seize it. We have no idea how the Buccaneers will look next season or if their post-Brady roster will resemble anything close to a championship contender.

It did not seem like this would be the team's mantra a few months back, but the time is now for Tampa Bay.

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