On the night of Oct. 13, the Pittsburgh Penguins raised their fourth Stanley Cup banner to the rafters of the PPG Paints Arena as thousands of fans watched in amazement. Fans went home happy that night, as the Penguins dispatched the Washington Capitals 3-2 in the shootout. A few weeks earlier, on Sept. 18, the Pittsburgh Steelers won their home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals 24-16 after a promising week-one win at Washington 38-16.
The Steelers then took a big loss against their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, by a score of 34-3 at Lincoln Financial Field. They returned home for the next two games, beating the Chiefs 43-14 and the Jets 31-13.
Back on the ice, the Penguins won two out of their first three games, including the home opener and, after a big 4-0 loss in Montreal, had an exciting comeback win against the team they beat in the Stanley Cup Finals last year, the San Jose Sharks. They scored three goals in the third period to win by a score of 3-2.
Back to the field, the Steelers lost their last two games before the bye week, losing to the Dolphins in Miami 30-15 and the Patriots at Heinz Field 27-16. During the second quarter in the game against the Dolphins, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was tackled and his knee was slammed to the ground, forcing him to leave the game. He did not return to that game. The next week against the AFC Division-leading Patriots, the Steelers were forced to put in backup quarterback Landry Jones, who threw for 281 yards and one touchdown, but they still lost the game.
The Penguins, who were coming off of a 5-1 loss to the Predators in Nashville on Oct. 25, went into their next game with a key player back on the roster. Sidney Crosby played his first game of the season against the Florida Panthers after missing the first six games due to a concussion. He made his presence known immediately, and his hard work paid off halfway through the second period as the puck found him alone right in front of the net and he made no mistake, scoring his first of the year as the Penguins won 3-2.
Two days later, the Penguins dispatched the Islanders 4-2 and then traveled to Philadelphia for a game at Wells Fargo Center. Despite going down 2-0 early, the Penguins battled back and beat their archrivals, the Flyers, by a score of 5-4, even though they were missing their top defenseman, Kris Letang. The Pens then traveled across the country to the west coast to face the Ducks on Nov. 2, the Kings on Nov. 3 and the Sharks on Nov. 5. At the end of October, the Penguins held a record of 6-2-1.
The Steelers did have Ben Roethlisberger back on the field on Nov. 6, when they took on their archrivals, the Baltimore Ravens, and lost 21-14. Eight days later, America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, came to Heinz field to face the Steelers. After a back and forth game, the Steelers found themselves in scoring position with under a minute remaining.
Down 29-24 with 50 seconds left, it was first and ten on Dallas’ 15-yard line. Ben Roethlisberger announced to his teammates and coaches that he was going to spike the ball in order to stop the clock. He hiked the ball and pretended to spike it, only to throw it into the hands of Antonio Brown, who ran into the end zone. The score was 30-29 with 42 seconds remaining.
The Steelers kicked off and the Cowboys took over. They drove up the field and, as the clock winded down, rookie phenom Ezekiel Elliott ran into the end-zone, untouched, giving the Cowboys a 35-30 lead. With nine seconds left, the Steelers comeback fell short. The score remained 35-30 as the clock hit zero.
As of the middle of November, the Steelers sit in second place of the AFC North division with a 4-5 record. The next few games will be a major factor in determining who they will face in the playoffs, if they make it.
As for the Penguins, they sit in third place in the NHL, as of November 16, with a record of 10-3-2. Sidney Crosby sits first in the league in goals, with 10, despite only having played nine games.
The city of champions have been outstanding and disheartening in their respective seasons so far, with both teams being heavily favored and only one team actually living up to the hype. In fact, the last time the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, the Steelers won the Super Bowl in the same season.