Man, I can’t believe it.

It seemed like only yesterday I was at Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., with my buddy, Terry. It was August, and it was hot. We enjoyed the day, interacted with other fans in attendance, and talked about sports and life during our hour-long car ride back to Pittsburgh.

I seriously can’t believe that was almost five months ago. Where has the time gone? Where has this Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 regular season gone?

In many ways, it’s been the craziest Steelers campaign I’ve seen in a while. In other ways, it hasn’t been any more insane than any other season I’ve witnessed since I was a child.

It might be pretty wild that three different quarterbacks have started for Pittsburgh in 2023, and the best one–Mason Rudolph–is about to take the reins in his third-straight game. But we’ve seen this kind of thing before. Oh, not during the Ben Roethlisberger era, but we witnessed it countless times in the pre-Roethlisberger age.

Rudolph will again lead the charge on Saturday, as the Steelers travel to M&T Bank Stadium to take on a Baltimore team that will for sure be resting star quarterback, Lamar Jackson (that has been confirmed), and likely several other starters on both offense and defense.

If the Steelers win and get some help on Sunday, they’re in the playoffs with a 10-7 record. We could then continue this crazy football ride for another week, fantasizing about Rudolph throwing the game-winning touchdown in a wildcard matchup in Miami (or possibly Buffalo). If Pittsburgh loses and doesn’t have everything fall into place on Sunday (that’s right, a loss in Baltimore isn’t an elimination), it’s on to the offseason. Yuck.

Give me another week of drama. Give me another week where rumors and speculation run wild, brother.

I simply can’t believe it’s been almost four months since I sat in my living room and watched Brock Purdy and the 49ers dismantle the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

It’s been six weeks since Matt Canada was fired as offensive coordinator. That news felt like it was just announced last week. It’s been over a month since the last time Kenny Pickett started a game at quarterback for the Steelers. It seems like his ankle injury happened yesterday.

An NFL season is 18 weeks. A team’s season is 17 weeks. That seems like a long time when it first starts, but those weeks begin to add up fast.

I realize I’ve spent the majority of the Steelers 2023 campaign complaining about how boring and stinky they are, but they finally captured my attention and love on December 23 when the offense went off for 34 points. They kept my attention on New Year’s Eve when they scored 30 points and racked up 468 yards. This team is now fun to watch for the first time in years, and to think that it could all end this weekend?

I’m not ready for that.