Is it time to take the Steelers seriously as a Super Bowl contender?
The Steelers are now 8-2 and coming off quality wins over the Washington Commanders and the Baltimore Ravens. While they still have a long road ahead, they are in the best spot they have been since 2020. With seven games to go, they control their destiny for the No. 1 seed in the AFC—but they still have to get through the Chiefs, Eagles, and Ravens again—and the Bengals and Browns twice.
But we’re not talking about playoff seeding, we’re talking about the hold pierogi here. Can the Steelers win the Super Bowl at the end of the 2024 season? That’s what it’s all leading up to, and the only thing we really care about beyond entertainment value. And now the question is, is it time for the football community to take them seriously as contenders?
Through the first half of the season, one could argue that the Steelers didn’t really have any quality wins. Even the wins that might look better in hindsight still come with caveats, such as Justin Herbert being hurt.
Now they have beaten the darling rookie QB Jayden Daniels and stymied the presumptive league MVP. They toppled the NFL’s highest-scoring offense without scoring a touchdown. Lamar Jackson hasn’t scored as few as 16 points since…well, the last time he played the Steelers.
Sitting here in Week 11, how realistic are the Steelers’ chances of winning the Super Bowl? Perhaps we need to factor in the road they must still travel along the way, which, again, includes two two-loss teams plus a Ravens team that is as deadly as any. And they still have five more divisional games to go, though hopefully they can stack some chips in Ohio.
There are some concerns, of course, though every team has them. Russell Wilson found himself throwing the ball away a lot yesterday, especially in the red zone, unable to navigate a frustratingly leaky pocket. The defense also continues to rely as much on opportunism as anything, which is fine until the opportunities run out. The Steelers have some holes, certainly—but are they more deflating than others’? Do they have a roster that can pull off a title run?
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. Is Russell Wilson earning a lucrative new deal next year, and is Justin Fields still in consideration? 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.
