Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers finished the 2023 season with a 10-7 record and made two upgrades at the quarterback position, many in the media didn’t think too highly of the team ahead of the season. However, the Steelers have begun to put those analysts on notice. Rich Eisen’s power rankings are a good example of that.
Eisen reveals his power rankings each week, which rank the top-10 teams in the NFL according to him. On Wednesday, Eisen put the Steelers in his top 10 for the first time this season, leaving them in sixth place. Eisen even made a remark that if the Steelers played the Philadelphia Eagles right now, he thinks Pittsburgh would come out on top.
“I think that if the Steelers played the Eagles right now, I think they’d beat ’em,” Eisen said on The Rich Eisen Show. “I think the way that the Steelers are playing defense right now, anybody would have a tough time moving the ball on them. And Justin Fields gets better every week.”
For reference, Eisen ranks the Eagles seventh on his list, one spot behind Pittsburgh. This is some pretty high praise for Pittsburgh, though, and they made a massive jump on his list. After Week 2, the Steelers weren’t even included in his top-10. However, their 20-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers to advance to 3-0 must have impressed him a bit.
Eisen remarks about the Steelers’ defense being dominant, and it’s hard to argue against that. With just 26 points allowed through three games, the Steelers have allowed the fewest in the NFL. Pittsburgh has allowed 475 passing yards, the fifth-fewest in the league. Finally, they’ve allowed just 214 rushing yards, tied for the second-fewest. With all this in mind, Eisen’s claim that ‘anybody would have a tough time moving the ball’ against Pittsburgh holds up pretty well.
He also mentions that quarterback Justin Fields is improving every week. That’s also a great point, as Fields is coming off arguably his best game as a Steeler. Against Los Angeles, Fields threw for 235 yards, a touchdown, and an interception while completing 78.1% of his passes. He also had a passer rating of 96.0. More than anything, Fields is also earning his teammates’ respect.
That wasn’t all of the credit Pittsburgh got during this segment, though. One of Eisen’s producers, Chris Brockman, thinks the Steelers can beat the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills at home right now.
Eisen asked Brockman who he thought would win if the Steelers played the Chiefs this week in Pittsburgh.
“Oh yeah, I’m gonna take the Steelers,” Brockman said.”….Their defense is better than anyone else’s offense, that’s for sure.”
Eisen then asked Brockman if Pittsburgh would beat the Bills in the same situation. Brockman’s answer was the same. This is just another example of the organization slowly gaining some respect from the media.
