I hate to be the one to tell you all this very disturbing news, but it needs to be done.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 season is over.

Following their 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, the season is now officially over…at least that’s what some fans are thinking and feeling today.

Go onto any social media platform and you’ll see fans who are ready to throw in their Terrible Towels and call it a season. Don’t worry about the 16 other games on the schedule, it doesn’t matter. The performance was bad enough to just call it a season and move onto the NFL Draft.

All kidding aside, there are fans who are so distraught after the loss to the 49ers they see nothing but doom and gloom for the Steelers this year. After one bad performance. Even my co-hosts Dave Schofield and Bryan Davis were down in the dumps on Thursday’s Steelers Preview podcast.

Let me make something clear, that loss was bad. I’m not about to suggest anyone should try and paint a pretty picture after such a poor performance. Even the most optimistic fan can’t spin that game into anything even resembling a positive outlook. However, to suggest the Steelers’ entire season is over, not literally, seems a bit hasty, doesn’t it?

The thought of the team not being able to improve and right the proverbial ship seems a bit outlandish to me.

Kenny Pickett and the offense was putrid, but this isn’t as if Pickett is a rookie who hasn’t played in the NFL before. Last season we saw him improve to the point where fans were brimming with confidence heading into the season. Has one game shaken that confidence that much?

Matt Canada has been the fans’ favorite whipping post for almost three years now, so nothing new has changed there, but will the defense fall off the face of the earth? Sure, losing Cam Heyward won’t be easy, but is it a death sentence?

I could go on, but I think you all understand the general thought of this article. And before fans head to the comment section and tell me how starting 0-2 would be really difficult to overcome, I get it. In fact, in the Mike Tomlin era his teams haven’t won the first two games of the season three times.

• 2013: 0-4 start
• 2018: 0-1-1
• 2019: 0-3

Ready for the doomsday prophecy? All of those seasons ended in middle-of-the-road status near .500 and missing the playoffs.

Will the Steelers bounce back against the Browns on Monday Night Football? That’s anyone’s guess, but I will say that I’m not willing to give up on the season yet. Not even close. The offseason is way too long for me to consider packing it in following the early portions of the season. The season is still young, and I feel improvement is still a possibility for this team.

Sometimes you just have to keep the faith!