The Athletic recently put out a quarterback tier list, and Mike Sando went deeper, breaking down each team’s strength of schedule when looking at opposing quarterbacks. When looking at opposing quarterback strength, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the 13th-hardest schedule in the NFL, largely due to their division slate.
“Only the Raiders face a more difficult division schedule of opposing quarterbacks than the Steelers are scheduled to face. It’s not all bad for Pittsburgh. Drawing the AFC South and NFC West in the rotation, plus a lower-rated 17th opponent in the Packers’ Love, helped even things out,” Sando writes.
Pittsburgh’s four hardest games when looking at quarterback opponents are its two against the Cincinnati Bengals and two against the Baltimore Ravens. That makes their division slate the second hardest when looking at opposing quarterbacks with an average tier of 1.77.
But in total, Pittsburgh’s average tier is 2.71. That’s due to their intra-conference schedule tying as the seventh-easiest schedule, with a 3.35 average quarterback tier. Their inter-conference schedule isn’t much harder, with a 3.33 average tier, ranking as the 21st hardest schedule. The toughest quarterbacks Pittsburgh faces in the NFC, per The Athletic’s tiers, are Matthew Stafford and Geno Smith, who while good quarterbacks, are certainly beatable.
The crux for Pittsburgh making the playoffs is going to be going through Jackson and Burrow, but Pittsburgh has proven it can beat both those guys, with Jackson struggling in his five games against the Steelers, throwing four touchdowns to six interceptions. Even Burrow struggled a bit against Pittsburgh in Week One last year, throwing four picks. So while both are talented quarterbacks, neither has proven to be infallible, particularly against the Steelers.
With their slate against non-division opponents not looking all that daunting (Trevor Lawrence is the best quarterback they face not in the AFC North), the Steelers need to take advantage of their non-division games. They still need to go at least .500 in the AFC North to have a good shot at the playoffs, but it’s going to be extra important to take care of business against the rest of the league.
Obviously, this isn’t an exact science. The Athletic’s tiers are based on the opinion of 50 NFL execs and coaches, so nothing makes this list gospel. It’s an interesting look at where the Steelers’ schedule lies, but it’s not as if a quarterback makes the whole team.
But with Pittsburgh’s schedule being the 13th-hardest, the defense is going to have to be ready to deal with a lot of talented quarterbacks. With a pass rush that should be among the league’s best and a ball-hawking secondary that helped Pittsburgh lead the league in interceptions last year, the Steelers should be up to the task. Regardless of how talented their regular season opponents are, it’ll be a good ramp-up to get ready for the postseason, where this team should find itself in January.
