Die hard Steelers fan looking to attend every single game? Now’s a good season to try it. You’ll hardly have to fill up for gas, much less buy a plane ticket.
That’s because the Pittsburgh Steelers will travel the fewest miles in 2016, according to CBS’ annual breakdown. The team will traverse only 5,138 miles, nearly 1000 less than the next closest team, the Cleveland Browns. Click the link for the full map for every team.
That’s partially because the AFC North will take on the NFC East this season, meaning Pittsburgh only has to take two short treks to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. So it’s no surprise to see the Steelers at the bottom with the Browns (31st), and Baltimore Ravens (30th) in similar situations.
For the record, the Cincinnati Bengals have to travel over 16,000 miles this season though that number is skewed by a trip to London.
Pittsburgh also doesn’t have to make any trip of more than 2,000 miles. That’s an important statistic because as Grantland.com found out in, from 1997-2011, teams won at less than a 40% clip when doing so, per the CBS’ article.
The farthest Pittsburgh will have to travel is to Miami on October 16th, a 1,175 mile journey. And hey, it’s South Beach, so it’s hard to even complain about that.
This isn’t the first time Pittsburgh has had the shortest NFL journey. They also did in 2014 at roughly 5900 miles, a season where the Steelers went 11-5 and captured the AFC North before falling to the Ravens in the Wild Card. So that very small sampling brings generally good news for Steelers’ Nation.
If you’re wondering, the newly minted Los Angeles Rams better buy extra leg room for their plane rides. This season will see them travel over 32,000 miles, including a trip to London.
Richard Berry may have written “Have Love, Will Travel,” but I’m loving the fact the Steelers don’t have to in 2016.
Oh and by the way, it’s a little over 1300 miles from Pittsburgh to Houston, the site of Super Bowl 51. Just saying.
Steelers 2014 Road Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon, Sep 12 @ 7:10 PM ET | at Washington Redskins |
| 3 | Sun, Sep 25 @ 4:25 PM ET | at Philadelphia Eagles |
| 6 | Sun, Oct 16 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Miami Dolphins |
| 9 | Sun, Nov 6 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Baltimore Ravens |
| 11 | Sun, Nov 20 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Cleveland Browns |
| 12 | Thur, Nov 24 @ 8:30 PM ET | at Indianapolis Colts |
| 14 | Sun, Dec 11 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Buffalo Bills |
| 15 | Sun, Dec 18 @ 8:30 PM ET | at Cincinnati Bengals |
