The Pittsburgh Steelers, and certainly their fans, prefer to be the underdog instead of the obvious favorite. And ESPN analyst Jeremy Fowler thinks they’ll be in the thick of the AFC come the home stretch of the 2023 season. Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show Monday, Fowler named the Steelers as one of his sleeper teams.
“Nobody’s talking about Pittsburgh,” Fowler told Eisen. “You know the defense is going to be good. And they’ve got weapons. If Kenny Pickett can sorta manage it and play in the fourth quarter like he did.”
The Steelers are easy to forget. They play in a loaded AFC North with three other first-round quarterbacks, more established players who grab the headlines far easier. Joe Burrow’s a former #1 overall pick and king of college football who returned to Ohio and turned the Bengals’ franchise around. Lamar Jackson is a former NFL MVP and dynamic player who was one of the most polarizing players coming out of the draft. Now, he has a mega-contract. And Deshaun Watson was the #1 offseason story of 2022, as controversial as he is talented, and entering a crucial second year with the Browns.
The AFC is loaded with stars and studs from Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes to Buffalo’s Josh Allen. The conference’s quarterback group got better this offseason with the New York Jets trading for Aaron Rodgers, which meant for about a month the rest of the NFL didn’t exist.
In fairness, there have been some in the national media willing to show the Steelers some love. The Good Morning Football Crew has always spoken highly of Pittsburgh’s chances, especially Kyle Brandt. They aren’t completely forgotten. But they’re the least-discussed AFC North team, lacking the flair or flash the rest of the division possesses. Fowler has spent plenty of time around Pittsburgh himself, covering the team locally for years before moving to a national beat.
Still, Pittsburgh went 9-8 in 2022 after sitting at 2-6 at the bye and having a dreadful season offensively. Defensively, they were without T.J. Watt for half the season and despite all those issues, still put together a winning record and nearly snuck into the playoffs as the 7th seed. With a solid offseason haul and more stability, it stands to season Pittsburgh can win double-digit games in 2023 and return to the postseason. Perhaps they’ll be battling the Miami Dolphins for a postseason bid, the other AFC team Fowler named a sleeper.
