Will the Steelers finish with a 6-2 record before the bye week?
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ next two opponents have a combined 4-8 record, but one is a bigger problem than the other by a pretty good margin. On virtually every level, the New York Jets are a better team than the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aaron Rodgers is clearly better than Daniel Jones, for example. And the Giants will be without some huge players like Kayvon Thibodeaux and Andrew Thomas.
So, the Steelers stand a much better chance of beating the Giants, but they have to play the Jets first. I can’t imagine they would lose both games, anyway, so 5-3 should be the bare minimum. However, these are both winnable games, so 6-2 is far from unreasonable.
Regarding the AFC North, the Steelers already share the division lead with the Ravens at 4-2. They could easily be 5-1 at a minimum if they simply stop one fourth-and-goal play. Overall, this is a good team, albeit with flaws—like any other good team.
Except not quite like any other good team. No other good team has the Steelers’ particular quarterback dynamics. It’s wild for a good team to even talk about a quarterback switch at this time of year. But of course, Russell Wilson was technically always the starter, wink wink, nudge nudge.
The Jets added a powerful new weapon during the week in WR Davante Adams, who has a longstanding rapport with Rodgers. Oh, and they still have Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall and, you know, other guys. The Steelers won’t just roll over the Jets by any means, despite their 2-4 record. And we know Pittsburgh rarely makes a win look easy.
The only way the Steelers can reasonably score an “easy” win over the Jets is if they force Aaron Rodgers out of character and make him turn the ball over. Historically, he is one of the cleanest quarterbacks ever. He has the lowest interception percentage in NFL history. But he does have five picks this year, and 2.3 percent is high for him. The Steelers have the fifth-most interceptions in the league, so…maybe?
The Steelers’ 2024 season is underway, following another disappointing year ending in a first-round playoff loss. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January. There are positive signs, but things could jump off the rails any moment.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Will Russell Wilson regain his job when he is healthy, or is Justin Fields stealing it? How will the team continue to address the depth chart, which is surprisingly still in flux?
The regular season is here, following weeks of camp and preseason games. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
