It’s no secret that the AFC North is loaded top to bottom and is likely going to be the best division in the NFL — again.
Someone is going to have to win the division, and someone is going to have to finish last.
As the 2023 season edges closer into view, a few things are clear: the Cincinnati Bengals are the favorites to win the division and the Steelers are largely predicted to finish dead last.
While some like ESPN’s Louis Riddick, Stephen A. Smith and Chris Russo believe that’s ridiculous, former NFL quarterback and ESPN NFL Live analyst Dan Orlovsky believes the Steelers will finish last in large part because he said the Steelers don’t have a better unit than anyone in the division.
“I say, yes, they do [finish last in the AFC North]. Outside of Mike Tomlin, I don’t know if there’s a person or a unit that they are better than anybody else in their division. You know, T.J. Watt maybe, but Cleveland has Myles Garrett. Minkah Fitzpatrick could be in that conversation, but they’re not better upfront than anybody else in their division,” Orlovsky said during an appearance on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday. “They don’t have better skill group players than everybody else in their position. They’re not better at quarterback than everybody else in their division. Defensively, Baltimore is just as good, if not better, than them in Pittsburgh. I just think like the total makeup of the football team and this, I still think they’re intriguing and they, they have a chance to be a good team.
“It’s just that the division is absolutely loaded. … I can’t find a unit that I sit there and go, that group is better than everybody else in our division. And that’s gonna be the reason why they don’t finish in last place.”
While it’s a little frustrating to hear Orlovsky said he’s picking Pittsburgh to finish last in the AFC North due to the strength of individual units rather than the team, it’s certainly an argument worth making. Heck, it’s one I made earlier in the offseason.
In my Ranking the Rooms series here at Steelers Depot, Pittsburgh finished first in only the safety rankings thanks to Minkah Fitzpatrick. While I think T.J. Watt is certainly a better, more complete player than Myles Garrett in Cleveland, Cleveland’s EDGE group is downright scary.
Good thing games aren’t played on paper though.
Though Orlovsky cited head coach Mike Tomlin as a reason why the Steelers might not finish in last place in the division, it’s about more than just Tomlin as to why they likely won’t finish last and picking them to finish last for the first time in decades is a hot take. There’s a winning culture in Pittsburgh under Tomlin. It’s a professional environment, one that handles adversity extremely well and is always focused on the task at hand.
The Steelers never get distracted by the outside noise, have great leadership in place and always find a way to grind out games. That matters. As Russo and Smith pointed out in the First Take segment with Orlovsky, are the Browns really trustworthy when it comes to that?
History shows that they aren’t.
The Steelers might not have the best roster in the division, but they are pretty solid top to bottom. When the lights come on and the games start to matter, chances are high that Pittsburgh will be competitive and won’t find itself in the basement of the division.
