The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a polarizing team through training camp and the preseason. Some fans and media analysts are jumping on the hype train after a stellar preseason, projecting Pittsburgh to push for a playoff spot and have a shot at winning the AFC North in 2023. Others aren’t as optimistic, remembering back to the Steelers teams the last couple years that have struggled offensively while having QB Kenny Pickett entering his second NFL season.
A day after posting projections for individual player/coach awards, 35 analysts from NFL.com took part in predicting the division winners, making their individual picks and adding up the first-place votes. For the AFC North, the Cincinnati Bengals finished in first place with a whopping 22 votes while the Pittsburgh Steelers finished in third with four votes.
Pittsburgh came in behind Cincinnati and the Baltimore Ravens, who were given eight first-place votes. Interestingly enough, the Cleveland Browns didn’t receive a vote from the analysts polled.
When looking at the state of the AFC North, it’s easy to understand the skepticism about putting Pittsburgh at the top spot. The Bengals deserve to be there into 2023 after winning the last two AFC North titles. QB Joe Burrow and the offense have taken the NFL by storm, winning the AFC two years ago on their way to a Super Bowl appearance while battling with the eventual Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs last season in the AFC Championship Game just a year later.
Rich Eisen predicted the same order in the AFC North yesterday on The Rich Eisen Show, stating he’s high on the Steelers, but projects the Ravens and Bengals to finish above them. Baltimore is shaping up to be a better team than last season and QB Lamar Jackson appears to be fully healthy while the organization went out to surround him with a bunch of new weapons to help spark the passing game.
The AFC North will be a dogfight this season. There’s no denying it. It very well may come down to which team avoids the injury bug the most and who can get hot at the right time down the stretch. Still, Pittsburgh should be very much in the mix, boasting a far better roster a year ago with notable development from its quarterback. Seeing that the Steelers finished third in the division last year given the circumstances, one would expect that they will at worst stay the same, if not improve that ranking to second as the try to push the Bengals for the top spot.
