LeBron James throws stray at Pittsburgh Steelers offense while discussing Lakers' struggles
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are like the Pittsburgh Steelers through the early part of the NBA season.
Hear us out, or better yet, listen to James’ reasoning. James cited the Steelers’ record (5-3) despite struggling as the perfect analogy to the Lakers through six games.
James and crew are 3-3 after a 120-101 loss to the Orlando Magic Saturday night.
“We’re like the Pittsburgh Steelers right now,” James said. “You know what that means? (The) Pittsburgh Steelers right now have not outgained or outscored any of their opponents in this season right now, and yet, they have a winning record. I think I might be their lucky charm because every time I pick against them they win.”
Well, obviously if Pittsburgh was outscored in every game, they’d be 0-8 on the season. But James is correct about the statistics.
The Steelers became the 34th team in NFL history to be outgained by their opponents in each of their first eight games. However, Pittsburgh is the first team to ever have a winning record based on that statistic.
What James meant to say about the Steelers’ scoring is that overall, the team has been outscored if you aggregate all of the scores from the first eight games. Pittsburgh has been outscored by 30 points in total and outgained by 790 yards.
The Lakers? Well, James’ team just looks like a .500 basketball team through the first few games. Again, they are at 3-3.
Mike Tomlin responds to Steelers’ fans wanting Matt Canada fired
The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada has been under fire all season based on the offensive performance.
So, LeBron James isn’t the only one taking shots at this point. Back in September, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin responded to fan chants of “Fire Canada.”
“I appreciate their passion,” Tomlin said. “I share their passion. We all do. Man, we love our fans, man. They inspire us. They challenge us. It’s an awesome relationship. Man, we don’t run from challenges, we run to challenges. This is the sport-entertainment business. It is our job to win and thus entertain them. And so we don’t begrudge them for that. We want them to be fat and sassy and spoiled. It is our job.”
The biggest question on the offense is going to be whether quarterback Kenny Pickett can develop into a better player than he’s proven to be at this point. As the offensive coordinator, Canada is going to be responsible for his development.