Early-to-mid July is the slowest time of year for the NFL. Players, coaches, and front office personnel can actually take time off and relax. However, NFL fandom never stops. This means it’s a perfect time for places like Pro Football Focus to drop their 2024 win total projections. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh Steelers fans, the projections are not too rosy. PFF predicts the Steelers will win eight games this season. 8.0217, to be exact.
The Steelers are one of 20 teams projected by PFF to have under nine wins in 2024, though three teams are projected to have at least 8.5 wins by the PFF model. If the Steelers were only to win eight games (without a tie) that would be head coach Mike Tomlin’s first career losing season. That would end Tomlin’s NFL record for most seasons without a losing campaign to start a head coach’s career. A big part of that less-than-stellar prediction is that the Steelers have the second-toughest strength of schedule in the NFL.
It’s no secret that the Steelers’ schedule is brutal. The teams the Steelers are playing are already tough as demonstrated by the strength of schedule. Then you look at the divisional games, and the Steelers don’t play a single divisional opponent until Week 11.
On top of the backloaded divisional schedule, the Steelers face a number of short weeks mixed with tough opponents. The Steelers visit the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15 on Sunday. They travel to take on the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16 on Saturday. Then they are home for a Christmas Day matinee versus the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday in Week 17. That’s a brutal mix of teams and not a lot of rest or preparation time. It’s no wonder that analyst Warren Sharp said it was “off the charts bad.”
The Steelers aren’t the only AFC North team predicted to have a losing season in 2024. The Cleveland Browns are projected to win eight games as well (8.1078). Both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Ravens are projected to have winning seasons. PFF predicts the Bengals to win close to 10 games (9.7654) and the Ravens to win 10 games (10.2175). The Ravens are just one of three teams projected to win at least 10 games along with the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
It’s not a happy projection by any stretch of the imagination for the Steelers. That doesn’t mean fans can’t have hope. NFL rosters aren’t finalized and won’t be for close to two months. A lot can change during training camp and preseason. Fans will have to hope that the changes in Pittsburgh will be for the better.
