In just five days the Pittsburgh Steelers open the 2023 season, ending the offseason cycle of endless speculation, hypothetical discussion points, and all the other endless offseason fodder that ultimately won’t matter as soon as the football is kicked off at Acrisure Stadium.
But, in the next five days there is still time for some of that offseason fodder. That includes a pair of NFL power rankings Tuesday morning from CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco and NFL.com’s Eric Edholm.
In both power rankings, the Steelers find themselves in the middle of the pack.
Edholm is a little bit higher on the Steelers than Prisco, putting Pittsburgh at No. 14 in his power rankings, moving them up five total spots overall.
“I’m starting to wonder if this is too low. The Steelers were hot down the stretch last season, winning seven of their last nine games (including four straight at the end), and all they did this preseason was blowtorch their three opponents,” Edholm writes regarding the Steelers in his power rankings. “The latter must be weighed carefully, but it was hard not to see how fluid and explosive the first-team offense looked (five TDs in five drives). The AFC North should be one of the best divisions, and the 49ers will be a stiff Week 1 test, but the schedule really does lay out nicely for Pittsburgh. All of this depends on Kenny Pickett making a Year 2 jump. Also, the defense needs to give up fewer big plays, but most arrows appear to point upward.”
Based on the way the Steelers performed down the stretch last season and then seemingly carried that over into training camp and the preseason, winning all three preseason matchups in impressive fashion, the hype continues to build for the Black and Gold. Edholm questions if the No. 14 ranking might be too low for the Steelers, and it might be, but it’s hard to put them over the likes of the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions and New York Jets.
As Edholm points out though, a lot of the hope with the Steelers comes down to quarterback Kenny Pickett making a Year Two jump overall, generating more explosive plays and putting more points on the board than the Steelers did last season, scoring just 18.1 points per game.
If Pickett takes that leap in Year Two and the defense remains healthy and performs like it did down the stretch in 2022, look out for the Steelers.
While Edholm has the Steelers at No. 14 thanks to a big move up the board, Prisco has the Steelers at No. 16 in his rankings, resulting in no change since his last power rankings. Prisco has the Steelers sandwiched in between the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks.
“Kenny Pickett appears to make major strides in the preseason. If that carries over, the Steelers will push for a playoff spot,” Prisco writes regarding the Steelers’ ranking at No. 16.
It’s worth noting that Prisco has the Steelers as the 10th team in the AFC in his power rankings, too, which shows just how loaded the AFC is entering the 2023 season. Additionally, Prisco has the Steelers as the last team in the AFC North in his power rankings.
As Pickett showed in the preseason and training camp though, he’s on the cusp of a significant leap forward entering Year Two. There was a greater comfort and ownership of the offense throughout the offseason and that carried over into training camp and the preseason.
Pickett looked exceptionally sharp overall. His accuracy was terrific, and he was more willing and confident pushing the football down the field, especially over the middle. The numbers in the preseason are nothing to gloss over, either: 13-of-15 passing for 199 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Steelers to five scoring drives on the five possessions the starters played in the preseason.
We’ll see if it shows up in games that count in the regular season. If it does, the Steelers will be firmly in the playoff picture and will rise up the power rankings in future weeks.
