The Pittsburgh Steelers won 10 games and made the playoffs in 2023 despite subpar quarterback play for most of the season, but ahead of 2024, the team upgraded the room. The Steelers have an entirely new quarterback room featuring Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, but with the upgrades at quarterback come a more difficult schedule and questions remain if the Steelers will make the playoffs in 2024. But Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport believes that the Wilson-led Steelers can make the playoffs, although the team’s performance will “rely largely on Wilson.”
In an article answering the top questions around the NFL, Davenport wrote “yes” to the Steelers making the playoffs under Wilson.
“The wide receiver position is admittedly a question mark in the Steel City behind George Pickens, but if rookie Roman Wilson steps up and Russell Wilson takes care of the ball as well as he did last season (26 touchdown passes, eight interceptions), the Steelers could at least be a capable offense. Throw in a defense led by edge rusher T.J. Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick that allowed the sixth-fewest points per game in 2023, and you have the makings of a playoff team. How much noise the Steelers make there will rely largely on Wilson,” Davenport wrote.
Even though Wilson didn’t pass the eye test at times last season, he did a solid job of limiting turnovers, and he still would’ve been an upgrade over what the Steelers had at the quarterback position last season. Wilson’s best seasons came when he had a strong defense and running game in Seattle. Pittsburgh can replicate some of those traits with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in the backfield and a defense that should get sacks and force turnovers, especially with Minkah Fitzpatrick playing more of a traditional safety role again in 2024.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Steelers make the playoffs given how strong their roster is, but a brutal schedule that features all six of their divisional games in the last eight weeks of the season could make it difficult. The benefit to the schedule is that the offense will have time to settle in under a new quarterback and new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith before taking on the Steelers’ divisional foes. Still, it’s not going to be a cakewalk to make the playoffs, and Wilson is going to have to prove that he’s a step up from the quarterback he was over the past two seasons.
There’s no doubt that it’s going to be an interesting season in Pittsburgh, and the play of Wilson is going to be paramount to the Steelers’ success.
