Differing opinions abound about the Steelers’ expectations this season. While some have them as a sneaky team that could make some noise, others have them bottoming out for the first time during Mike Tomlin’s tenure.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando sits somewhere in the middle. While he believes the Steelers will have a successful season, winning nine or 10 games, he’s not expecting much more than that.
“What is the hope of the ceiling?” Sando said during an appearance on The Ryen Russillo Podcast. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they won 10 games, but what’s your real upside in the playoffs? Are you going to be hoping to win a wild-card game? So to me there’s just a real ceiling on where they can go.”
The elephant in the room for Sando lies at the quarterback position. He’s admittedly uneasy about Russell Wilson as the team’s starting quarterback, stating that he believes most of what made him special is in the past.
As our Josh Carney previously wrote, Sando did his annual quarterback tiers article, putting Wilson near the bottom of the third tier.
It’s been well-documented that the Steelers have one of the hardest schedules in the NFL this season, at least on paper. In fact, per Sharp Football Analysis, their slate ranks as the hardest overall. Mike Tomlin, as I’m sure you’ve also heard, has never had a losing season. So is this where the rubber meets the road?
Obviously, Sando isn’t going that far, essentially saying that Tomlin’s presence alone guarantees the team will have at least nine wins. Still, there’s notable doubt that seems to come from Sando about the team as a whole.
While Wilson may not be the spring chicken he once was, he is certainly an upgrade over what the Steelers had a season ago. Let’s not forget that at one point last season Wilson had the Broncos in playoff contention, winning five-straight games, four of which were against playoff teams.
Even past his prime, Wilson was still able to throw for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns in just 15 games. The last time the Steelers had a quarterback throw for at least 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns was in 2020.
Armed with what projects to be a good defense, the Steelers may be able to surprise Sando and show that their ceiling is higher than what he thinks.
