There’s a new preseason active winning streak owner in the NFL as of Saturday night and it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Saturday loss by the Las Vegas Raiders to the Dallas Cowboys results in the Steelers wrapping up the 2023 NFL preseason with the longest active preseason winning streak in the league.
This year, the Steelers finished their 2023 preseason with a 3-0 record, and they have also now won six consecutive preseason games dating back to the start of the 2022 preseason. Prior to their Saturday loss to the Cowboys, the Raiders had also won six straight preseason games as they had previously stacked four wins in 2022 before starting 2-0 this year. That six-game preseason winning streak came to an end Saturday with their 31-16 loss to the Cowboys.
The Steelers aren’t the only team to finish the 2023 preseason undefeated as the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Commanders have also managed to accomplish that feat. The New Orleans Saints can join the three teams Sunday night as they enter their preseason finale 2-0 this year. They play the Houston Texans at home Sunday night to close out the NFL’s 2023 preseason schedule of 49 total games.
Entering this year, the Baltimore Ravens were considered the princes of the preseason thanks to their long winning streak. They opened their 2023 preseason schedule with a win against the Philadelphia Eagles to push their unbelievable practice game winning streak to an NFL-record 24 games.
The Ravens’ long preseason winning streak came to an end last weekend, however, with their last-minute loss to the Commanders on the road. They followed that Week Two preseason loss up with another one on Saturday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The losses this year by the Raiders and Ravens now leave the Steelers all alone with the longest-standing preseason winning streak in the NFL at six games.
The Steelers have also had great preseason success over the years and especially under head coach Mike Tomlin. Dating back to 2007, his first season as the Steelers head coach, Tomlin’s teams are a combined 40-24 in preseason games. He stated right after the team’s recent preseason road win against the Atlanta Falcons how much he values the annual practice games.
“You can’t get enough of these opportunities in-stadium,” Tomlin said Thursday night. “You work your tail off to simulate it in a practice setting, but it is what it is and so, we will come through it like we always do in an effort to get better.”
The Steelers played most of their starters on both sides of the football on Thursday night and throughout the preseason as well. Tomlin has used a comparison to the sport of boxing this offseason when asked to explain why he is playing some of his starters so much during the team’s practice game slate.
“You know, I don’t really need validation,” Tomlin said Thursday night. “I just it’s difficult to box without sparring, and so, preseason is the opportunity for us to spar and sharpen our sword for battle.”
As for the Steelers ever being able to top the recently concluded record-setting preseason winning streak that belongs to the Ravens and dated back to the 2016 season, good luck with that and especially with most teams now only playing three preseason games a year. While it’s fun to discuss preseason winning streaks, and especially ones belonging to the Steelers, it’s obviously not overly important just the same. That noted, don’t try to tell that to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
