It’s hard to have a better bye week than the Pittsburgh Steelers had in Week 5. Sitting idle all week while getting a chance to rest up and get some key players back after a tough international trip to Ireland, the Steelers saw the three other teams in the AFC North lose.
That allowed the Steelers to add to their division lead early in the season, putting them in great position to take advantage of poor play and significant injuries within the division. They’ll have a shot to further take advantage of it, too, coming out of the bye week with matchups against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals in Weeks 6 and 7, though the matchup with the Bengals is on a short week on Thursday Night Football.
While on the bye week, many within the national media are starting to turn their attention to the Steelers, particularly in the AFC North. The division is there for the taking, and the Steelers are coming off of a strong performance in Dublin. How they look coming out of the break will be key.
In the process, the Steelers continue to move up in power rankings across the NFL media landscape.
Below is a chart of aggregate power rankings from several major outlets.
| Outlet | Rank | +/- |
| CBS Sports/Prisco | 5 | +4 |
| ESPN | 13 | -2 |
| NFL.com/Edholm | 15 | -1 |
| Pro Football Talk/Florio | 11 | -0 |
| The Athletic | 13 | -0 |
| Average Rank | 11.4 | +0.2 |
The biggest jump for the Steelers came in CBS Sports’ power rankings from Pete Prisco. Despite not playing a game in Week 5, the Steelers climbed four spots for Prisco, moving to No. 5 overall.
That’s elite company for the Black and Gold within the power rankings, and it’s in large part due to the outlook of the division.
“They come off their bye in command of the AFC North,” Prisco writes of the Steelers. “The division isn’t good around them, which is why it seems to be theirs for the taking.”
With injuries to the likes of Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson, and a rookie QB starting in Cleveland in Dillon Gabriel, things are really looking up for the Steelers moving forward. Burrow won’t play in either Steelers matchup this season, while Jackson could miss a few games with a hamstring injury, hindering the Ravens even further.
It’s not just injuries to the starting quarterbacks, though. The Ravens are significantly banged up defensively and haven’t been able to stop anyone all season, while the Bengals have injuries and poor play on that side of the football, too. The Browns still have a good defense, but offensively everything is a slog for them, and there’s no signs of getting out of that.
So, it’s all there for the taking for the Black and Gold. Of course, they’re dealing with a lot of injuries, too, but head coach Mike Tomlin always finds a way to push through the injuries and win games. He’s doing that now, while others can’t. That’s pretty telling about the state of the Steelers.
