With the 2023 NFL season just about to kick off, analysts across all forms of media are locking in their season predictions. On Tuesday, Ryan Reynolds of The 33rd Team released his predictions for the entire NFL, including how he sees the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season going.
Reynolds predicts the Steelers will finish third in the AFC North with a 10-7 record, but the question is, will Pittsburgh return to the playoffs?
“In these predictions, the Dolphins, Steelers, and Browns have winning seasons but miss the playoffs,” Reynolds wrote before making a larger division prediction. “The AFC North will be the best division in football entering 2024.”
Reynolds has the Cincinnati Bengals winning the AFC North with an 11-6 record with the Baltimore Ravens finishing second with an identical record. The Cleveland Browns finish fourth with a 9-8 record. In fact, he predicts that the AFC North is the only division in the entire NFL where all four teams have a winning season. That seems to suggest that the North is already the best division in the NFL, but his point still stands. The AFC East is the only other division with at least three teams finishing with a winning record as he predicts that the New England Patriots will end up 7-10.
As for the Steelers missing the playoffs, that does seem to be going against what a number of analysts and media personalities are saying these days. Pittsburgh had a great offseason, is healthy ahead of the Week One matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, and the first-string offense was as close to perfect as can be in the preseason, scoring five touchdowns on five drives. The only way they could have been better is by scoring on every single touch practically.
That being said, Pittsburgh still plays in the vastly superior AFC. Reynolds even notes that the AFC is where the majority of the NFL’s best quarterbacks are, saying “you could argue nine of the 10 best quarterbacks play in the AFC.” That’s a tall task for a team led by a second-year quarterback in Kenny Pickett. However, he has looked poised, making the right decision quickly with the football throughout training camp and preseason.
So will the Steelers continue head coach Mike Tomlin’s record of avoiding a losing season while still missing the playoffs, or will they rise to expectations and return to the postseason (and even contend for the division title)? Only the next 18 weeks will tell.
