The Pittsburgh Steelers are now 3-0 to start the 2024 regular season and in case you’re curious, that’s the eighth time that the team has accomplished such a feat since the league’s 1970 merger. So, based on history, what does a 3-0 start to the season mean for the 2024 Steelers when it comes to their playoff chances?
For starters, let the record show that the previous seven times that a Steelers team has started a season 3-0, each time they made the playoffs. Those seasons were 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2007, 2010, and 2020. That’s obviously a 100 percent hit rate.
Now, dating back to the 1970 merger, and according to Stathead.com, there have been 236 teams that started a regular season 3-0. Of those 236 teams, 178 of them ultimately made the playoffs. That equates to a 75.4 percent success rate. In the last 20 NFL seasons (2004-2023), 93 teams have started a regular season 3-0 with 71 of them ultimately making the playoffs. That equates to a 76.3 percent success rate.
In case you’re curious, the last time a team started a regular season 3-0 and failed to make the playoffs was in 2021, when both the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers accomplished the dubious feat. The last AFC North team that failed to make the playoffs following a 3-0 start to a regular season was the Baltimore Ravens in 2016. Strangely enough, the Ravens were one of four teams that season that failed to make the playoffs after a 3-0 start to the season.
So, basically, three out of every four teams that start a regular season 3-0 go on to make the playoffs, and that certainly is encouraging for the 2024 Steelers.
As far as what a 3-0 start means for NFL teams when it comes to winning Super Bowls, that has happened just 25 times since the 1970 merger. The Los Angeles Rams were the last team to do it in 2021. The Steelers, however, have done it twice previously, 1978 and 1979, back-to-back seasons, obviously.
The Steelers will obviously now have a chance to start their 2024 season with a 4-0 record on Sunday and on the road against the Indianapolis Colts. Only four previous times have the Steelers accomplished a 4-0 regular season start, with the last time coming in 2020.
Dating back to the 1970 merger, there have been 143 teams that started a regular season 4-0, and 121 of them went on to make the playoffs. That equates to an 84.6 percent success rate. The last time a 4-0 team failed to make the playoffs was in 2016 when both the Broncos and Minnesota Vikings did that in the same season.
The Steelers-Colts series has been played 34 times (including 5 postseason games). The Steelers previously won 27 of those games with the Colts having previously won the other seven. All-time, the Steelers are 10-5 against the Colts on the road, including two playoff meetings between the two teams. The Steelers played the Colts last season on the road, and they lost that contest 30-13.
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin is 8-2 against the Colts all-time and 4-1 against them on the road. The Colts enter Sunday’s Week 4 game against the Steelers with a 1-2 record following their 21-16 Week 3 home win against the Chicago Bears.
