More than seven years after the Steelers’ last playoff win, and 13 years after their last Super Bowl victory, it seems long past time to call for patience as another lengthy offseason begins. But those seeking a quick solution to what ails the team these days ought to be sobered by taking a look around the NFL today. For example, in Saturday night’s divisional playoff matchup at Ford Stadium — the site where the Steelers claimed their fifth league championship on February 5, 2006 — the Detroit Lions watched their most promising season in many years go down the drain at the hands of an upstart Washington Commanders team recharged this season by their amazing, rookie QB Jayden Daniels.

After decades of futility, the Lions were dominant during the regular season, notching a 15-2 record that earned them the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Lions previously had been the team hyped by every NFL pundit as the group nobody wanted to face at playoff time. But the Commanders clearly came to play in Detroit and the Lions’ injury-depleted defense was no match for Daniels, who has shown a maturity well beyond his age.

Scoring four TDs in the second quarter and adding two more in the final quarter, the Commanders dominated the Lions in every phase of the game while their defense was grabbing five turnovers. At the end of a particularly long night, the once-mighty Lions had been reduced to just another member of the 31-team pack whose seasons will end in disappointment.

Watching what — despite the lopsided, 45-31 final score — was a highly entertaining game, the most striking things were what it suggested for the Pittsburgh Steelers, as they face another uncertain offseason. First and foremost, the outstanding play of Jayden Daniels underscores the vital importance for the Steelers to find a top-flight, franchise QB as soon as possible. Almost single-handedly, Daniels has turned a 4-13 NFL doormat into a strong contender for a SB berth.

But the Steelers currently have virtually zero chance to obtain the QB they need — at least not for another full season or two. For fans, this means that “patience” will remain the watchword moving forward. As we’ve seen in recent seasons, it’s unrealistic for either the fan base or the team’s coaching staff to pretend that the Steelers, as they stand today, will be making any serious bid for another SB berth on any timetable suitable to the Steelers Nation faithful.

This message totally contradicts the massive PR effort which the Steelers launch during the late summer of each year. Fans also are quite reluctant to accept this reality. But the stories of the 2024 Commanders and the seemingly unbeatable Kansas City Chiefs ought to drive home the point that, as Tom Brady noted on Saturday’s broadcast, a great QB is one who demonstrates the capability to lead his team, however flawed it might be otherwise, to success.

We’ve seen plenty of focus on coaching again this season among Steelers fans and pundits. While it’s undeniable that Head Coach Mike Tomlin has made mistakes during the team’s extended drought, we can learn something valuable by the experience of Lions’ HC Dan Campbell. Of all NFL coaches, nobody has received more accolades than Campbell in recent seasons for being a players coach and uber-motivator. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Coach Tomlin’s well-demonstrated qualities in the same areas weren’t enough to push his team through a brutal, December schedule.

The unceremonious bursting of Campbell’s bubble in front of the Lions’ home crowd in Motor City was another reminder that the outcome of any season invariably comes down to the talent on the field. Daniels badly out-dueled the veteran Jared Goff, making him appear more like the rookie QB futilely attempting a late comeback. After everything written about the importance of coaching strategy, it turns out that the quality of a team’s roster is what makes a successful head coach.

But the good news we can take from the Commanders’ surprising success is that even a 4-13 team in today’s NFL might be only one season away from seriously contending for a SB. All that’s needed is to sign a generational QB like Patrick Mahomes or Jayden Daniels. The formula is simple, but extremely difficult to execute.

The parallels between the Steelers and Commanders also offer hope. For example, Washington ended last year’s dismal season having given up on their 2-season experiment with QB Sam Howell, who was dealt to the Seattle Seahawks after the 2023 season. Although Howell was a fifth-round draft pick for the Commanders, his tenure in Washington compares closely with Kenny Pickett’s in Pittsburgh. The key difference, of course, is that the Commanders, because of their poor record, were in a position to pick second overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. But like the Steelers, the Commanders had bolstered their overall talent level in the seasons prior to acquiring Daniels. We witnessed that improvement on Saturday, particularly in terms of Washington’s defensive secondary.

Regardless of predictable calls for the Steelers to totally clean house, it’s important to imagine what this team, without any substantial changes in the current roster, might look like once they find their next franchise QB. Were the Steelers to begin dealing away highly-drafted players like Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth and T.J. Watt — or their free-agent find, Jaylen Warren — they would be losing some of the key players who have helped them the most in recent seasons.

At least throughout the 2025 regular season, the Steelers and their rabid fans would do better to accept that this year likely will be another period of growth for the team, but not likely a year for fielding a serious contender. In terms of goals for 2025, the Steelers front office and fans ought to expect further progress in building the supporting cast which their next franchise QB will be leading.

Like the Commanders last season, the Steelers roster already is reasonably solid — with a few needs besides QB which can be addressed in the 2025 NFL Draft. At this point, Steelers Nation needs to put its growing impatience on the shelf and bide our time until they can hit the jackpot again at the QB position. But absent some sort of miracle, that’s not going to happen anytime this year.