Even discounting all the weird that took place on the field this year, and Mason Rudolph leading the Pittsburgh Steelers into the postseason wasn’t on my Bingo card, even the days and times this team played their games were as unusual as ever in their 90-plus year franchise history.
If it felt like the Steelers didn’t play many Sunday games this season, you’re right. A whopping seven of their 18 contests in 2023, including the Wild Card game, didn’t land on a Sunday. That’s the most in franchise history, two more than the next-closest seasons, five such instances in 1978 and 1995. By day, here’s this year’s breakdown:
Sunday: 11
Saturday: 3
Thursday: 2
Monday: 2
They entered the year with just two Saturday games, two Thursday games, and one Monday game. But their regular season finale against Baltimore was bumped from Sunday to Saturday, while their Wild Card game was pushed back from Sunday to Monday due to Buffalo’s hellish winter storm.
Only half their games this year fell on its “normal” time slot, Sunday at 1 PM/EST. That included a stretch of four-straight games from Week 10 to Week 13 before not playing a single Sunday/1 PM game in their final six games of the year. And only one of those six even fell on a Sunday, a 4:05 PM/EST kickoff in Seattle. Playing the NFC West is one reason for this year’s uniqueness, twice flying across the country to play in Seattle and Los Angeles, not to mention a Sunday night matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week Three. To Pittsburgh’s credit, they won all three. And then found a way to get smacked by Arizona at home. Go figure.
Even that Cardinals’ game, miserable as it was, has a special note in season history. A pair of rain delays made it the longest game in Steelers’ history and the longest NFL game in five years.
What does all this mean? Not a whole lot. But it’s weird. And for a football team made up of players and coaches who are big-time creatures of habit, having their schedule bounced around isn’t fun. Nor is it easy. Preparing for two ultra-short weeks with a pair of Thursday games and two other weeks where they lost a day (Monday to Sunday in Weeks 2-3 and Sunday to Saturday in Weeks 17-18) and had to adjust.
It made a roller coaster year all the more turbulent and though the Steelers’ season came to another bitter end, you have to tip your hat for them rolling with the punches of a funky-constructed season.
