Wednesday morning, 10 members of Sports Illustrated’s NFL staff put out their 2023 NFL season predictions, and five of them picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to make the playoffs, with editor Mitch Goldich also predicting T.J. Watt would win Defensive Player of the Year.
The Steelers were predicted to be the seventh seed in the AFC by every analyst who picked them to make it, with none predicting they’d advance past the first round. The most intriguing matchup was Michael Rosenberg’s prediction of a Steelers-Ravens first-round meeting, with all four others predicting a Steelers-Bengals matchup in the first round.
Goldich didn’t expand on why he picked Watt for Defensive Player of the Year, but Watt picked up the award in 2021 and is one of the most fearsome pass rushers in the game. He’s a dominant force who tied the single-season sack record in 2021 before missing seven games with an injury last season. If he stays healthy, he could get back to that level in 2023. If he can surpass 18 sacks, he’ll be a strong candidate for DPOY.
It would be disappointing if the Steelers made the playoffs and yet again lost in the first round. While the general consensus is that if Pittsburgh gets in, it will be a wild-card team, it’s been too long since the Steelers have won a playoff game. If they get in the dance this year, they have to make the most of it, no matter if they’re a one seed or a seven seed.
Analysts were high on the Bengals, with three predicting them to win the Super Bowl. After losing in the big game to the Rams two seasons ago, there’s a lot of hype that Cincinnati can get over the hump in 2023.
They added Orlando Brown Jr. to their offensive line, and with weapons like Tee Higgins, JaMarr Chase and Joe Mixon along with superstar QB Joe Burrow on offense, the Bengals are going to be a threat once again. But winning the AFC North isn’t even guaranteed, and so it’s a little bit surprising to see so many people predicting the Bengals to be Super Bowl champs.
These predictions are all speculation, but that’s really all that can be done now. The season kicks off tomorrow night with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions, and the Steelers open up on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. We’ll get a better idea soon enough of how teams actually look with the regular season underway, and it’ll be easier to figure out which teams are for real.
