The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Is the AFC North just too good for the Steelers to make the playoffs this year?
Here are some facts. If the season were to end today, the entire AFC North would be in the postseason [pending the Jets vs. Chargers game on Monday night; if the Jets win, they will have a better conference record than the Bengals; this was written Sunday night in case I forget to edit it before it runs]. They are the only division without a team with a losing record. They are the only division that is collectively more than three games above .500—and they are 11 games above .500.
The Baltimore Ravens class the AFC North so far with a 7-2 record, two more wins than any other team, though nobody has more than three losses. Pittsburgh already has wins over Baltimore and Cleveland, so they can’t lose head-to-head tiebreakers with them.
But things are tough. The Steelers may have a relatively easy back half of their schedule, but the rest of the AFC North is playing its best ball right now. Deshaun Watson is finally back for Cleveland and somehow not looking like a liability. They also have a ridiculous defense, as does Baltimore.
And Joe Burrow and company are looking like their old selves, complete with no running game, which they don’t need because they’re that good through the air. They just beat the Seahawks, 49ers, and Bills in consecutive weeks.
Chances are at least one team from the AFC North is going to fall out of the playoff race before all is said and done. The Steelers still have four divisional games to play, so that’s friendly fire, and in how many of those games will they be favored?
