Looking Back at the 2014 Steelers: The Last Team to Open at Home

That year the Steelers finished 11-5 and won the AFC North before losing to the Ravens in the wildcard round.

Remnants from that team are hard to come by when looking at the current version of the team. Only two players from that team are still on the Steelers roster. Cam Heyward was 25 and in his third year with the team, and the only other player still with the Steelers is Stephon Tuitt, who was in his rookie year. 

Mike Tomlin was still there of course, but the staff around him looks much different now. The offense was coordinated by Todd Haley, the defense by Dick LeBeau. This team had Mike Munchak coaching the offensive line, Randy Fichtner coaching the quarterbacks, and Keith Butler coaching linebackers. 

The quarterback room featured a young, spry Ben Roethlisberger at just 32 years young. He was backed up by Bruce Gradkowski and Landry Jones. 

This team had a group of receivers led by Antonio Brown, rookie Martavis Bryant, Lance Moore, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Markus Wheaton. This group also featured the failed football experiment Dri Archer, who was fast, but that was about it. 

The offensive line was one of the better groups in recent memory, with Kelvin Beachum, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, and Marcus Gilbert shoring up the starters. 

That Steelers team still had aging legends in Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, Brett Keisel, and Heath Miller at the end of their careers. 

The game itself wasn’t one worth remembering outside of the Antonio Brown kick. The Steelers went into the half up 27-3 behind touchdowns from LeGarrette Blount, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell, before nearly collapsing entirely in the second half. 

A pair of touchdowns by Browns' running back Isaiah Crowell, and a touchdown reception by Travis Benjamin made it a game once again. 

The Steelers avoided total disaster with Shaun Suisham kicking the game-winning 41-yard field goal as time expired. 

A lot of members of this team don’t just not play for the Steelers anymore, most of them don’t play football at all. Several good Steelers players came and went without ever opening the year at home. Joe Haden, Juju Smith-Schuster, Alejandro Villanueva, Javon Hargrave, and Bud Dupree never started their seasons with a home game in the entire time they were with the team. 

It’s not just the Steelers that have seen a lot of change since they last started the season at home. The Penguins won not one, but two Stanley Cups in the time since the Steelers last opened their season at home. The Browns have had five different head coaches in that time span. The Pirates have made the playoffs more recently than the Steelers started at home. 

Hopefully, this new era of Steelers football will not have to wait too much longer before they can start the season at home, because it's safe to say that it's been a while.