After a tough loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers are, as the kids say, in trouble.
After losing to the Orlando Magic 120-101, Lakers star LeBron James compared the team’s woes to the Steel City.
“We’re like the Pittsburgh Steelers right now,” James said after the game. “The Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to outscore or outscore any opponent this season, but they have a winning record.”
Like the Steelers, the Lakers have struggled to score. Except for the fourth quarter, when they held a slim 21-19 lead, they were outscored in every quarter. The Lakers dropped to 3 wins and 3 losses this season.
As James pointed out, the Lakers and Steelers got off to slow starts in the game. Pittsburgh scored for the first time of the season against the Tennessee Titans, their first touchdown on their opening drive since Week 15 of last season.
But as James also noted, Pittsburgh still found a way to win despite its problems. Not only have they trailed in every game this season, they have played fewer games and started fewer first downs than their opponents in all eight games. If you reversed the results of all five of the team’s one-point games this season, Pittsburgh would be 0-8. Their five wins in a single possession lead the NFL.
With their recent losses, the Lakers are dead last in scoring this offseason. James is looking for success in the final years of his NBA career. He considered retiring last year but announced he would return for at least one more season.
This isn’t the first time James has made comments about the Steelers last week. On Twitter, I’m picking the Tennessee Titans to beat the Steelers on Thursday night. Fortunately, this result did not prove to be correct.
James joked to reporters that he would stop provoking Pittsburgh.
“I think I’m Mike Tomlin’s lucky charm because every time I play against them, they win,” James said.
Pittsburgh came back again in the final seconds to defeat Tennessee 20-16. Still, as one of the worst scoring teams in the NFL, their offense has been plagued by the same issues they’ve faced all year despite their fast start.
Both teams will struggle to solve their scoring problems the rest of the game. James will lead the Lakers, while quarterback Kenny Pickett will run the Steelers, although Pickett’s career is far removed from James’s.
James and his teammates will be looking to get off to a quicker start Monday against their former team, the Miami Heat. Pittsburgh will look for a winning streak next Sunday when it hosts the Green Bay Packers.