The Pittsburgh Steelers have improved their roster during the offseason. More moves are coming, and the Steelers are going to need any help they can get, as the team won’t have an easy slate in 2024. Per NFL Research, the Steelers will have the NFL’s third-hardest strength of schedule in 2024, behind AFC North foes in the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens.
The metric is based on opponents’ winning percentage from last season, which for Pittsburgh is .533, as its 2024 opponents went 154-135 last season. Given that the entire AFC North finished with a winning record last season, it makes sense that the top three teams in the division last season have the three hardest schedules in 2024. The Cincinnati Bengals are tied for the 16th-most difficult schedule in football.
In addition to playing three teams that finished third in their division last season, the Steelers will play the AFC West and NFC East this season. Their game against the AFC East third-place finisher, the New York Jets, will be at home, while they’ll face the Indianapolis Colts, the AFC South’s third-place finisher and Atlanta Falcons, the third-place team in the NFC South, on the road.
Pittsburgh’s home schedule this year is particularly difficult, with matchups at Acrisure Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets among its slate. They also play the Los Angeles Chargers under new head coach Jim Harbaugh and the New York Giants at home this season, as well as their three divisional opponents.
The Ravens will have the most games against 2023 playoff teams next season, as they’ll play 10 games against teams that made the postseason last year. Given how weak the NFC South was last season, it doesn’t come as a surprise that two teams in that division are tied for the easiest records entering 2024, with the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints tying for the easiest schedule with their opponents combining for a .453 winning percentage.
The AFC North is going to be a grind every single season with the amount of talent in the division, and rosters can change a lot over the offseason, so strictly looking at strength of schedule based on opponents’ winning percentage from the previous season can potentially be flawed. However, there’s little doubt that based on who the Steelers are playing that their schedule will be tough, and likely much harder than last season, especially given that the Steelers faced their fair share of backup quarterbacks in 2023.
Still, this is a team talented enough to make the playoffs and win in the playoffs, and anything less than that will be a disappointment in 2024.
