The Steelers went 8-8 last season, but four of those eight losses were by a field goal. And that has Steelers linebacker Larry Foote thinking about what might have been.
Foote told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he thinks the Steelers were good enough to be a 12-4 team because those close losses were games they should have won.
“Four games we should have won. Do that, and we’re 12-4, but that’s how the league goes,” Foote said. “The year before, we made the playoffs and we could have lost four games. The bottom line is we lost some games that we should have won and we didn’t.”
Of course, every team in the NFL that missed the playoffs last year could look back at a few close losses and say those were games they should have won. And the Steelers also could have lost most of the games they won: Five of their eight wins were by seven points or less.
Ultimately, however many games the Steelers “should have won,” eight is the number they did win. And that’s what matters.