Rich Eisen is a big fan of Mike Tomlin. And he’s a big fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Put it together and Eisen believes the Steelers have a realistic chance to not just make the playoffs but win the AFC North.
As part of the show’s Overreaction Monday, a popular segment soon to receive its own dedicated show, Eisen was asked by Chris Brockman if picking the Steelers to win the AFC North is an overreaction. Eisen’s response? Nope.
“This is not an overreaction,” Eisen said. “This is entirely possible. Anyone who says it’s not possible, that Pickett can’t make the leap, that Pickens can’t make the leap, that Najee Harris can’t do the things we’ve seen him do. And the defense, if T.J. Watt stays healthy. Good Lord. You can’t sit here and say the Steelers have no shot to win the division.”
To be clear, Eisen was not predicting the Steelers would knock off the Cincinnati Bengals and return to their place atop the AFC North. But the idea isn’t a ridiculous one. It helps that Pittsburgh has looked good in their two preseason games, the first-team offense scoring on all three of their drives, while the defense swarmed Josh Allen and shut the Buffalo starters out, going on to win the game 27-15.
Pittsburgh is playing in arguably the toughest division in football, an uber-tight AFC North where all four teams believe they can be not just playoff contenders but taking the division crown. Last year, all four teams beat up on each other, going 3-3 in AFC North play, and all four generally had strong offseasons. The Bengals avoided a long-term injury with QB Joe Burrow, the Baltimore Ravens have a healthy QB Lamar Jackson back, and the Cleveland Browns are counting on QB Deshaun Watson to look far better in his second year with the team, the first full year since his 2022 suspension.
Eisen pointed to how Pittsburgh ended last season, going 7-2 after the bye, and Tomlin’s leadership as reasons to stick your neck out for them.
“The Steelers finished strong. The Steelers have a dynamite coach. You can’t say that’s an overreaction. At all.”
Pittsburgh last won the AFC North in 2020, beginning the year 11-0 before ending the season 12-4. They were one-and-done in the playoffs, upset by the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card game. If the Steelers fail to capture the AFC North crown in 2023, it’ll mark the first time they had gone three straight years without doing so since 2011-2013. Prior to that, it hadn’t happened since 1998-2000. That history may be on Pittsburgh’s side, but the difficulty of the division can’t be overlooked. Only four in the North have a chance but only one will come out on top.
Check out the whole clip in the comment below.
