Etnering the 2023 season, expectations are seemingly high for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who underwent significant changes once again this offseason, subtracting multiple pieces from the roster while adding in a number of experienced veterans all over.
After finishing the 2022 season in impressive fashion, going 7-2 in the second half of the season while showing real growth and maturity on both sides of the football to finish 9-8 under head coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers should be even better this season.
How much better remains to be seen, but for USA Today’s Nate Davis, the Steelers will win 11 games under Tomlin this season. That seems like a great number of wins for such a young team, but ultimately those 11 wins won’t be good enough to reach the playoffs, per Davis’ projections.
“Maybe 11 wins feel overly optimistic at first blush given the conference gauntlet and the especially unforgiving AFC North,” Davis writes regarding his projection for the Steelers. “But consider that the Steelers closed 2022 with a four-game win streak – salvaging HC Mike Tomlin’s perfect streak without a sub-.500 season – and that was with rookie QB Kenny Pickett, OLB T.J. Watt out nearly half the season and RB Najee Harris not quite resembling the player who was so productive as a rookie in 2021And with likely future Hall of Famer Patrick Peterson and second-rounder Joey Porter Jr. aboard to solidify the corners for a pass defense that slipped to a No. 19 ranking, a two-game improvement from 9-8 ought to be perfectly achievable.”
In a typical year, 11 wins should be more than enough to get into the playoffs. But in a loaded AFC that features Super Bowl contenders in the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals and potentially more, it might not be enough.
The easiest way to get into the playoffs for the Steelers is to win the AFC North, which looks much, much easier said than done as we stand here today. The AFC North – typically the best division in football year after year — looks like a gauntlet once again with the Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns looking rather strong on paper, as do the Steelers.
According to Davis though, the Steelers’ struggles within their own division and within the conference overall compared to teams like the Dolphins and Ravens will keep Pittsburgh out of the postseason once again.
As Davis writes though, a two-game improvement for the Steelers based off of the second half of the season doesn’t seem like a stretch at all, especially when Pittsburgh will be taking on one of the easier schedules in the NFL this season, at least based on preseason projections. Those projections mean nothing once the season starts, but it’s worth noting.
An easier schedule could mean more wins, and more wins could mean a trip back to the postseason for the Steelers in 2023. It’ll be up to the Steelers to make Davis’ prediction wrong.
