There are still many hesitant to believe in the Pittsburgh Steelers as a serious contender in the AFC playoffs. I have reservations of my own, and certainly understand if others are still waiting for the other shoe to drop. But when a longtime AFC North rival player starts to state his opinion of the Steelers being contenders, it is worth a listen.<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns legend Joe Thomas joined The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday and was asked who the biggest challenger to the Kansas City Chiefs was out of the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, and Steelers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s interesting because the Ravens is that team that you want to pick, but their pass defense is so terrible that as soon as, in your mind, you match them up against a team like the Chiefs, you\u2019re thinking, how do they ever stop Patrick Mahomes throwing the ball?\u201d Thomas said in a video on Rich Eisen\u2019s YouTube channel. \u201c\u2026I don\u2019t really believe in the Bills. I just feel like when you watch them, they\u2019re a team that seems to be flawed because I don\u2019t think they fully believe in themselves as contenders to beat the Chiefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I would actually say the Steelers are probably a team that could knock off the Chiefs. Because you can\u2019t exactly say why they win these games\u2026But they don\u2019t make mistakes. They don\u2019t beat themselves and they play such good defense. T.J. Watt, the ultimate closer out there on the edge rushing the quarterback would give Patrick Mahomes a ton of problems. And if they can run the ball and play tough, sometimes that\u2019s the formula that wins games in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n