It won’t be until Week 3 that the Pittsburgh Steelers open their 2024 season at home, hosting the Los Angeles Chargers after spending the first two games in Atlanta and Denver. If the Steelers get taken down by Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert, and company, they’ll have reached a low point never achieved in franchise history: losing four straight home openers.
Whether it was Heinz Field or Acrisure Stadium, for the past three years, Pittsburgh has lost their first game in front of the hometown crowd. In 2021, the Las Vegas Raiders won 26-17. In 2022, the New England Patriots edged them out by a field goal. And in 2023, the San Francisco 49ers dog walked Pittsburgh in their first Week 1 home opener in almost a decade.
It’s never happened to the Steelers four straight years. In fact, it’s only happened three consecutive seasons one other time. That came over a half-century ago, 1960-1962. In 1960, Pittsburgh won their first two games on the road before losing to the New York Giants at home, 19-17. The Giants beat them at Pitt Stadium the following season and knocked them off again in 1962, 31-27. Pittsburgh would finally get their revenge in 1963, facing the G-Men in another home opener, RBs John Henry Johnson and Dick Hoak combining for almost 200 yards in a 31-0 win.
Even the early day Steelers never suffered such a fate. And those teams did nothing but lose.
Steelers Longest Home Opener Losing Streaks (Team History)
2021-Present: Three Straight Games
1960-1962: Three Straight Games
Like many other of our offseason topics, this is just a quirk of history. And we’re starting to get pretty specific, a sign that we’re in the dead of summer. But any “never been done before” Steelers stat that doesn’t take a paragraph to explain is always interesting, to me, anyway, and something to keep in mind when Week 3 rolls around.
Breaking that streak won’t be easy. The Chargers will be everyone’s AFC sleeper this year led by Harbaugh, a man who seems to win everywhere he goes. While Los Angeles is coming off a poor year, they still have anchor points in QB Justin Herbert, LT Rashawn Slater, and a threatening pass rush duo of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa.
Once the season gets close, we won’t be thinking about Week 3. Nor should we. The focus is on Atlanta in Week 1 and getting off to a 1-0 start, no matter if it’s home or away. But when Pittsburgh gets to open up in front of Steelers Nation, a win will be key—not only for the course of the season but also to avoid a losing streak they’ve never accomplished before.
