Most of the attention on the Pittsburgh Steelers entering the 2024 season centers on the Black and Gold getting back on track in the playoffs under longtime head coach Mike Tomlin.
But the Steelers won’t even get that chance to win a playoff game, at least if you ask Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr. He thinks Steelers will miss the playoffs in 2024 and be replaced by Jim Harbaughs and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Orr’s reasoning for the Steelers missing the playoffs? The back end of the schedule.
“The Steelers got better this offseason without question, but we go back to an issue of scheduling,” Orr writes regarding the Steelers missing the playoffs. “Mike Tomlin’s teams will never be bad, but he gets the meat of the hardest division in football through the waning months of the season.
“With a physical, veteran team, that can be a tough ask.”
Chargers ➡️ IN
Steelers ➡️ OUT
Bears ➡️ IN
Cowboys ➡️ OUT@ConorOrr looks at how this season’s playoff field will look different from a year ago:https://t.co/0vwuhSChwb— The MMQB (@theMMQB) June 27, 2024
Orr raises a good point regarding the Steelers and the back-end of the schedule being a tall task, especially due to the style of football that the Steelers aim to play this season.
Pittsburgh wants to get back to that bully-ball style, one that leans heavily on the run game and punches opponents in the mouth over and over again. The Steelers also want to rely on a fast, physical defense to help win low-scoring games.
In the past, they’ve done that successfully, winning more games than they lose in those situations. But that end-of-season stretch with all six AFC North games in the final eight weeks, not to mention matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, makes for quite a brutal close to the season.
It’s certainly tough. There’s no doubt about it. The NFL did the Steelers no favors whatsoever, especially with the unprecedented six AFC North matchups in that stretch. The Chicago Bears are going through that this season, too, in the NFC North.
That division doesn’t exactly match up with the AFC North though, to be fair.
The Steelers’ gauntlet to finish the season is a mess, one that now seems quite intentional since the Steelers and the rest of the AFC North will be on HBO’s in-season “Hard Knocks.” It’s going to be very difficult for the Steelers to get through that gauntlet of games, not only healthy, but winning enough games to stay afloat in the playoff picture.
Just don’t count out the Steelers like Orr does here. Yes, it will be difficult, but the Steelers always play well in the AFC North. Pittsburgh knows how to handle those matchups and find ways to win consistently under Tomlin when their backs are against the wall. They’ll likely find themselves in a familiar situation late in 2024, too.
