With the NFL preseason officially over, it’s now time for the assembled NFL media and talking heads to lock in their official predictions for the 2023 NFL season. On Tuesday, ahead of the official cutdown deadline, the First Things First crew on FS1 debated their final AFC North Predictions. While both Nick Wright and Chris Broussard agreed that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to make the playoffs, where they finish in the North varies.
To the surprise of the First Things First crew, Wright predicts that the Steelers will win the AFC North in 2023.
“The argument for the Steelers is very simple,” Wright said to a chorus of wows from the rest of the panel. “Last year, they had a rookie quarterback, and they had their best player miss seven games… Kenny Pickett, even if he’s not going to be as perfect as he was in the preseason, I do think he will be better than he was in Year One. Most quarterbacks get a Year Two bump… You’ve got to like George Pickens, you have to love Mike Tomlin. I think the Steelers win the division and get back to the postseason.”
As for the rest of Wright’s rankings, he has the Cincinnati Bengals finishing second, the Baltimore Ravens in third, and the Cleveland Browns finishing last.
Broussard is not quite as high on Pittsburgh as Wright is. While he agrees that the Steelers are a playoff team in 2023, he still has them below both Cincinnati and Baltimore.
“Mike Tomlin’s great, there is no doubt about it,” Broussard said. “For him to win nine games last year with T.J. Watt out and with their quarterback play… I think Pickett is going to be greater. I think George Pickens is fantastic, so I think he’s going to have a huge year. [Pat] Freiermuth, I like him too. Run game is good, too. I think the Steelers make the playoffs.”
While both Wright and Broussard do not have a consensus on where exactly Pittsburgh finishes in the standings, they both obviously feel good about the team’s prospects in 2023. They’re not alone, either. You can choose to dismiss Pickett’s performance in preseason as, well, preseason. However, it’s not just the fact that the Steelers’ starting offense scored five touchdowns in five drives.
It’s how Pickett performed. As Wright alluded to, Pickett was almost flawless in the preseason, boasting a perfect passer rating. He protected the ball and did not commit a single turnover; he distributed the ball well to his primary targets; he attacked the middle of the field. He even threw Freiermuth open for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills’ starting defense in the second preseason game.
Both Wright and Broussard also brought up Pickens. He was one of the best contested-catch receivers in 2022 as a rookie, and he’s been working on developing as a route runner. He took a slant pass from Pickett against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 33-yard touchdown.
Then you factor in a defense led by Cam Heyward on the defensive line, a pass rush led by a healthy Watt and Alex Highsmith, and a secondary with Patrick Peterson and Minkah Fitzpatrick, and it’s easy to see why people are high on the Steelers.
Does that mean Pittsburgh will win the division? That does seem like a tall task when the North has the Bengals, who have played in two straight AFC Championship Games, and a former league MVP in QB Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. However, the Steelers have, on paper, one of the best defenses in the league. That can help even the odds with just about any team in the league, not just within the division. Only time will tell, though.
