It’s been a couple of years now since the Pittsburgh Steelers managed to win more than nine games in a season. It’s also been a couple of years since they could proclaim themselves division champions. They didn’t come close to the latter in 2022, but what are the chances of them changing that in 2023?
According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Ray Fittipaldo, perhaps a bit better than you might think, even how overwhelmingly the Cincinnati Bengals seem to be regarded as the prevailing favorites. The previous owners of the division’s basement are now at the top, but no team has won the AFC North three years in a row in its two-decade existence.
“I’m just telling you right now, don’t count it out. There’s maybe a 15-20 percent chance it could happen this year”, Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan last week about the Steelers’ chances of winning the division and how it relates to their ability to win in the playoffs, “and if it does, that would obviously increase their chances of finally getting that playoff W”.
Winning the division doesn’t guarantee you an easy first-round game either, however, as the Steelers found out in 2020 and in 2017, a pair of one-and-done campaigns following surprisingly successful regular seasons.
The Steelers got blown out in both of those years by the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns, respectively, and while they eventually endeavored to make it somewhat interesting by the end, the truth is neither game was ever particularly close.
This year, if the winner of the AFC North is ranked as the fourth seed (which, admittedly, it probably wouldn’t be) it could still have to face a team like the New York Jets with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, or, well, the Baltimore Ravens or the Bengals, if not the Los Angeles Chargers. It may have to face one of these teams even as the third seed.
One of the most difficult things to do in the NFL is sustain success. The Bengals have been mostly very good for the past two years, but can they stay ahead of the competition for a third year in a row with the improvements the rest of the division has made?
“You know what happens in the NFL. There are always surprises every single year”, Fittipaldo said. “It’s not gonna be the same three teams at the top of the AFC like it has been the last couple years. Inevitably, it’s gonna change. Something weird’s gonna happen”.
Will it be the Steelers doing something weird, in a good way? I think they’re certainly capable of being very successful within divisional play this year, and if they can do that, it would serve as the perfect launching pad for a successful season, one that might be good enough to finish as the kings of the AFC North once again.
