With the NFL schedule officially released, we now have the full picture of the Pittsburgh Steelers schedule. It’s not an easy one due to their opponents, which we already knew coming in, but there’s one particular stretch, basically the entire second half of the season, from Weeks 11-18, that is going to be especially daunting. Pittsburgh doesn’t have a divisional matchup until Week 10, just the second time in 35 years the Steelers will go the first eight weeks without playing a divisional opponent, with the first coming in 1991.
The Steelers have a Week 9 bye and come out of that bye with a matchup on the road against the Washington Commanders. Week 11 is when things get difficult, and they don’t get any easier for the entirety of the season. In Week 11, the Steelers play their first AFC North game, hosting the Baltimore Ravens before they head on the road to play the Cleveland Browns on a short week for Thursday Night Football. Pittsburgh went 2-0 against Baltimore last season, but the Week 18 game came against backup QB Tyler Huntley, and the Ravens reloaded with the addition of Derrick Henry to their backfield this offseason.
In Week 13, the Steelers head to Cincinnati for a road tilt against the Bengals, who should have a fully healthy Joe Burrow this season. The Steelers return home for a matchup with a quick trip home in Week 14 to take on the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. In Week 15, they’ll again hit the road for a tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles before traveling to Baltimore for a Saturday Week 16 contest. The stretch culminates with a return to Pittsburgh to host the Chiefs on Christmas Day, a game that’s going to be broadcast exclusively on Netflix.
That’s…not easy. Going from playing the Ravens and Lamar Jackson on Saturday and turning around to play the Chiefs just a few days later is pretty ridiculous, especially compounded with a game against the Eagles the week prior to the Baltimore game. In addition, four of those five games from Week 12 to Week 16 are on the road, with the only return to Acrisure Stadium coming in Week 14 against the Browns.
The Chiefs and Ravens met up in the AFC Title game, while the Eagles, who made the Super Bowl two years ago, struggled to close the year and were bounced in the Wild Card Round. The Browns spent much of last season without quarterback Deshaun Watson, and it should be another hard-fought game. At that point in the season, RB Nick Chubb will also likely be back from his knee injury, and it’s going to be a game the Steelers have to have during that stretch.
The Eagles are still a formidable opponent, with Jalen Hurts working behind an offensive line that remains one of the best in football. They also added Saquon Barkley as a free agent, and their list of weapons includes A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert. Defensively, the Eagles signed Devin White to a front seven that also has Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and recently-signed Bryce Huff. A cornerback room with Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean is scary.
Turning around from that matchup to then play the Ravens on the road, a game that’s always competitive and physical, before a short week against the reigning Super Bowl champions in Kansas City, who added Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown to their receiving corps is going to be difficult. The Chiefs have had Pittsburgh’s number recently, and in their last matchup, they put a beating on the Steelers with a 42-21 beatdown in the 2021 Wild Card Round. The last time the two played in Pittsburgh, in 2018, Mahomes threw for six touchdowns.
With every divisional game coming in the second-half stretch and the only non-divisional opponents being two teams the Steelers have had trouble with recently (and are just good teams in general) in the Eagles and Chiefs, it’s going to be an absolute grind. There’s no way around it, really. This schedule is just brutal for the Steelers.
Given that they play the Ravens and Browns within relatively short order (Week 11 and Week 15 against Baltimore, Week 12 and Week 14 against Cleveland), expect some of the traditional hard-fought divisional games but without the benefit of a lot of rest/non-divisional games between matchups. Four straight divisional games from Weeks 11-15 are going to be quite the test, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Steelers are able to handle it. The team did go 5-1 against the AFC North last year, and it remains to be seen whether playing so many divisional opponents so close together will be a benefit or a hindrance for the Steelers.
I don’t like going out on a limb too often for late-season games with “so-and-so should win” because injuries and the general volatility of the season can change a lot. But on paper, this isn’t a good schedule for the Steelers, and this particular second-half stretch also doesn’t offer a lot of rest with a few short weeks mixed in, especially the Saturday-Wednesday turnaround from being at Baltimore to coming home against Kansas City.
Maybe it’ll work out, and the Steelers are battle-tested heading into the playoffs. But they will have to make the playoffs first, and it could come down to the wire with how this schedule is structured.
The Steelers have found a way to be competitive under any circumstance in the past, but this is as hard as it will be for them in a long time. They’re going to have to get off to a really strong start this season because finishing above .500 from Weeks 11-18 is going to be incredibly difficult.
