Though he’s a little biased as a former Pittsburgh Steeler, Ryan Clark has always been fair in evaluating the Steelers. After criticizing them throughout their early 2022 struggles, he’s now predicting a solid season upcoming and the chance to better their performance and record from a year ago.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning, Clark was asked if the Steelers will be a better team than a year ago. He offered a confident “yes.”
“The Steelers ended up being 9-8 last year,” Clark told the show. “You watched them down the stretch, two hard-fought late wins against the Raiders and also against the Ravens. You saw Kenny Pickett start to mature. Defensively, you add something old and something new in the backend at the cornerback position. And I expect that the run game will be more like what we saw late last year than early. The Steelers will be a better team in 2023.”
The Steelers looked like one of the NFL’s worst teams at the bye week, a 2-6 record, largely because they were one of the NFL’s ugliest clubs. An offense that couldn’t score and did more harm than good. A defense that generated zero pass rush without T.J. Watt. They were steamrolled by the NFL’s top teams, blown out by the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles.
But the Steelers righted the ship the rest of the way, going on a 7-2 tear following the bye. They nearly made it into the playoffs, eliminated on a last-second Miami Dolphins win after taking care of business by beating Cleveland in the regular-season finale.
With Pickett and the offense progressing, there’s reasons to be encouraged. Defensively, the Steelers aren’t as certain to be better, but the old/new cornerback combination Clark alluded to, Patrick Peterson and Joey Porter Jr., will hopefully ease the loss of Cam Sutton.
Pittsburgh will battle it out in a tough AFC North and AFC. Last year, every team in the AFC North went 3-3 against each other, the only division in football that can make that claim. It shows how hotly contested things are in a grouping with first-round quarterbacks, physical teams, and coaches with relative stability.
While the Steelers could be a better team, it’s no guarantee they make the playoffs. How they end the year, a tough road stretch including their final two games at Seattle and at Baltimore, may determine their fate.
