When you think of the teams most likely to compete for a Super Bowl in 2023, your mind probably gravitates toward the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buffalo Bills among other stacked rosters with a franchise quarterback. However, there always seems to be a couple teams every season that end up making a lot of noise, coming out of nowhere to be a viable playoff contender.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping to be that team in 2023, having missed the playoffs last season after a rough start to the 2022 campaign, having to endure a quarterback change at the beginning of the season while also losing their best player, OLB T.J. Watt, for almost half the season in Week One.
Several notable analysts are jumping on the Steelers as a dark horse team that could contend in the AFC this year after the offseason that they’ve had, and one of them is college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Herbstreit jumped on the Pat McAfee Show today and spoke about the Steelers being a team that isn’t getting a lot of national attention but always seems to be in the mix.
“I think the Steelers can be a sneaky team, kind of forgotten team,” Herbstreit said on The Pat McAfee Show, which aired live on YouTube. “The Steelers have always been a team that’s always been a playoff contender. I don’t know. I just feel like because of where their offense has been as they’ve transitioned with a new OC, a new quarterback, I just feel like people don’t talk much about them. And I just feel like that that organization has too much pride. I feel like [Kenny] Pickett now’s got a year under his belt. They’ve gotten better around him. Najee [Harris], I was hearing talk the other day about how banged up he was going into the season last year and he’s had an entire off season to get right.”
The Steelers have been a fringe playoff team the last couple of seasons, sneaking into the Wild-Card round in 2021 before getting bounced by the Chiefs in a laugher. QB Ben Roethlisberger has since retired, and Pittsburgh drafted Pickett to be the team’s hopeful future franchise quarterback. The team has also overhauled the roster, signing several notable outside veterans to the team while also adding notable young draft picks into the fold on the offensive and defensive sides of the football.
The Steelers look like a playoff team on paper in 2023, having the offensive firepower as well as the stars on defense to compete with some of the top teams in the conference. However, Pittsburgh’s outlook this season rests on the play of Pickett as well as the execution of OC Matt Canada’s offense, one that finally looks like it’s coming into its own after the first preseason game.
The Steelers are healthy, have improved depth at nearly every position, and don’t have a glaring weakness on the roster like in seasons past. If they can stay healthy and the young guys show growth from last season to this season, the Steelers could surprise a lot of people as a legitimate contender in the AFC North, pushing the Bengals as well as the Ravens and Browns for the division throne by season’s end.
