The Pittsburgh Steelers are a team that’s been building a lot of hype throughout the preseason, and NFL analyst Chris Simms is buying what the Steelers did in the preseason. After an undefeated preseason that was everything you wanted to see out of them, Simms said that performance was enough for him to slot the Steelers into the playoffs, giving them the No. 7 seed in the AFC in his predictions via his Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast.
“The Steelers, the way they looked in the preseason, that coach, the quarterback is real, the weapons are real, I think they got the o-line going,” Simms said. “They look like they’re a team on a mission, they looked the best out of all teams in the preseason on both sides of the ball, from that alone, just my football instincts, guts, anything I was raised to believe, I’m going to take the Steelers as a playoff football team.”
Simms had some notable omissions from the list, including the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers. He had the Baltimore Ravens as his No. 1 seed, earning a first-round bye, and the Cincinnati Bengals as the No. 5 seed. Part of his reasoning for leaving the Bills out of his playoff field was that the Steelers “looked a class above them” when the two met in their second preseason game.
While Simms has the Steelers making the playoffs, he puts them on a familiar path of their recent playoff appearances, a first-round loss at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs. A playoff appearance could certainly be considered successful, but it’s going to be frustrating and leave a lot of fans with a sour taste in their mouth if the Steelers can’t win in the postseason.
With a defense that’s going to be among the best in the league, it’ll be up to the Steelers’ offense to step up this year. A matchup against the reigning Super Bowl champions in Kansas City in the first round won’t be easy on either side of the ball though, and it would be a really true test to see how close this Steelers team could be to reaching the next level.
Obviously, none of this is set in stone, and it’s just Simms’ predictions. He has the Steelers as the third AFC North team in the postseason, but there’s rising confidence in betting markets that the Steelers could win the division. While they’re still long shots, it’s telling that Vegas is moving Pittsburgh’s line.
Pittsburgh needs its preseason performance to carry over when it takes on the San Francisco 49ers in Week One on Sept. 10 at Acrisure Stadium. A strong performance against one of the league’s better teams in the 49ers should hopefully build momentum for the rest of the season.
