Broncos Q&A: Alex Kozora, Steelers Depot
Alex Kozora is a lifelong Steelers fan who's covered the team for the popular Steelers Depot website since 2013. In our weekly Broncos Gameday Q&A, Alex spoke with The Denver Gazette to preview the Broncos-Steelers game Sunday:
Denver Gazette: Can you let Russell Wilson know he needs to play on Sunday?
Alex Kozora: “I think Russ would be the first one to say he wants to play. I don’t think he’s gong to get his chance, though. It would be pretty surprising if it’s not Justin Fields (at quarterback).”
DG: What was the initial reaction among Steelers fans when Pittsburgh signed Russ?
AK: “There was excitement for sure. I don’t want to say there was concern prior to that, but the prevailing thought was the Steelers would run back the quarterback room from last year (Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett). So to get someone like Wilson with his resume and pedigree and an established track record, there was definitely excitement. And he had interest from other teams, like the Giants. For the money, it was really attractive. Once Pickett got traded, Fields came back into play. When you bring in Fields along with Wilson, that’s a pretty big upgrade to the quarterback room.”
DG: How do Steelers fans feel about Russ now?
AK: “Not as good as they were back in March when they got him. It’s been a little tough to even judge it fairly because he’s been held out and injured. He got hurt in the conditioning test the day before the first day of camp. It was a minor injury at that point. That gave them an opportunity to get Fields extended reps. Wilson started the second and third preseason games; the third (preseason game) they looked better against the Lions’ backups. He marched down the field for a touchdown. Then he gets hurt in a Thursday practice before Week 1. So it’s been hard to gauge him. But the initial feeling was great. He would go to Pirates games. He took teammates to Penguins games. He took a bunch of (wide) receivers to work out in San Diego in the offseason. There was good buzz around his arrival.”
DG: Within Steelers Nation, what were the expectations for this team as a whole?
AK: “Expectations from this fan base are always high — and rightfully so. If you don’t win a Super Bowl it’s viewed as an unsuccessful year. But to make it more realistic, it’s time to win a playoff game. The national narrative around Mike Tomlin is that he’s never had a losing season. But this is the longest postseason-victory drought since the (AFL-NFL) merger. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. That’s a long time for the Steelers. They can go 10-7 or 9-8, but then you’re one-and-done in the playoffs and that’s not good enough. You know, you lose to the Browns (in 2021) when half the Browns’ roster is out with COVID. You lose to the Bills (last year). It's fair to say the expectations here haven't been met.”
DG: What would it take for Tomlin’s seat to be hot?
AK: “At this point, he would have to leave. He just got an extension, three years. There’s no way he could get fired this year. You’d have to look later in this contract. The Steelers have had only three head coaches since 1969 — Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin. They’re a patient franchise in an impatient NFL world. In his entire 17-year coaching career, he’s never ‘lost’ a group. Even last year when they had a three-game losing streak to get to 7-7, they win their last three to make the playoffs.”
DG: What is Tomlin's secret sauce?
AK: “One, he’s a really good coach. But it’s his ability to connect with players. Yes, they still have to win a playoff game. But he connects with everybody. For years he hated the label of ‘players coach.’ It had this connotation of, ‘He’s your buddy. He’s your friend.’ But he’s honest. He’s transparent. He always has a saying: ‘I treat everyone fairly but not everyone equally.’ The star player, if he gets arrested, you’re going to stick by him. If he's not a star player, you probably don’t. His big mentor was Tony Dungy. So you know how they view this (profession) as more than football and more than a job.”
DG: Where does T.J. Watt rank among Steelers greats?
AK: “Well, that’s a great class to fight through. But he is moving very quickly toward the top of that list. I don’t know exactly where to rank him right now. Obviously Joe Greene would be ahead of him. But he’s closing fast. He’s about to be the second-fastest player ever to reach 100 sacks. (Watt has 97.5 career sacks entering Sunday.) Only Reggie White got to 100 sacks quicker. He could retire today and be a first-ballot Hall of Fame. He’s as good as Pittsburgh’s ever had. You saw last week where Atlanta was saying, ‘We’re not going to let T.J. wreck the game.’ Then he wrecked the game.”
DG: The Broncos and Steelers have given us some classics. How do Steelers fans view the Broncos?
AK: “That’s a good question. It might have lost a little luster since those great games are a few years in the rearview mirror. There was the big comeback from Ben (Roethlisberger in 2015) where (Antonio Brown) had a big second half. But there’s such an intensity about the AFC North rivalries. The Raiders were really the arch nemesis in the (1970s) — Al Davis and Chuck Noll and Kenny Stabler and those guys. But there’s an appreciation here for Denver. Probably what gets remembered the most is Ryan Clark when he almost died after playing there (at elevation) one day due to his sickle-cell issues.”
DG: Is it OK to mention Tim Tebow’s name in Pittsburgh?
AK: “No. They’ll kick you out.”
DG: Why are there so many Steelers fans in the world?
AK: “I think part of it is they grew up watching them in the ’70s and there were only four channels on TV and only one game on. The Steelers were the team of the 70s. But I think one misnomer about Steelers fans is that they travel well. Mostly, they’re already there. They don’t live in Pittsburgh. So they don’t get to see their team very often. Once all the steel mills closed down in the ’70s and ’80s, people were displaced. They were out of jobs. They had to go live somewhere else. They started their families elsewhere. So that’s a misnomer.”
DG: What’s your prediction for Sunday?
AK: “I’m still going through some Broncos tape. But to give you one right now, I’ll take Pittsburgh. They’ll finish some of the drives they didn’t finish (in Week 1 at Atlanta). And Denver has an issue dealing with pressure on the quarterback. Bo Nix’s scrambling could be a factor just because (Kirk) Cousins wasn’t able to do that. Pittsburgh seems like the more stable operation at the moment. I think it’s likely a low-scoring game. I’ll go Pittsburgh, 20-13.”
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