Another week, another big win for the Pittsburgh Steelers, this time in AFC North football. Hosting the Cleveland Browns in Week 6 at Acrisure Stadium, the Steelers took care of business, rolling to a 23-9 win to take a commanding lead within the division, which appears to be falling apart beneath them due to injuries and poor play.
The Steelers had a real opportunity in front of them on Sunday, and they took advantage of it. But now, they have a short week and need to get over the hump on Thursday Night Football on the road against another AFC North foe in the Cincinnati Bengals.
Things are looking up from a health standpoint, and performances are starting to really come together on both sides of the ball for the Black and Gold. Quietly, they’re 4-1 and putting themselves within the contenders conversation in the up and down AFC.
So, where do the Steelers stand in the power rankings across the NFL landscape entering Week 7?
Below is a chart of aggregate power rankings from several major outlets.
| Outlet | Rank | +/- |
| CBS Sports/Prisco | 3 | +2 |
| ESPN | 12 | +1 |
| NFL.com/Edholm | 10 | +5 |
| Pro Football Talk/Florio | 5 | +6 |
| The Athletic | 11 | +2 |
| Average Rank | 8.2 | +3.2 |
Just like that, the Steelers are inside the top 10 from a consensus standpoint within power rankings across the NFL media landscape.
The biggest jump came in Mike Florio’s power rankings at Pro Football Talk as he had the Steelers climbing six spots, citing them going 2-0 in the last three weeks, while the AFC North has gone 0-9.
Even NFL.com’s Eric Edholm had the Steelers make a significant jump, moving from No. 15 up to No. 10. Thanks to consistency in recent weeks offensively, on top of a star-studded defense starting to live up to expectations, the Steelers are forcing themselves into the discussion in the AFC.
“Over the past three weeks, the AFC North has shifted almost completely into the Steelers’ hands. They’ve won their only two games in that span, while the Ravens, Bengals and Browns went a combined 0-9,” Edholm writes of the Steelers in his power rankings. “The Week 5 bye helped get Pittsburgh’s defense in even better shape, and it showed Sunday against Cleveland. The Steelers battered Dillon Gabriel for six sacks and 16 hits and kept the Browns out of the end zone. The offense stalled for field goals three times in the first half, but Aaron Rodgers delivered another solid game, with two second-half TD drives.
“He also was barely touched, which is great news. I don’t know if this is a great team yet, but Pittsburgh is playing like a very good one, at the very least.”
The question about the Steelers being a great team this early in the season remains up for debate. What isn’t a debate though is that the Steelers are good. They’re handling business week after week, and things are clicking.
Aaron Rodgers continues to distribute the ball well as the point guard of the quick passing attack, and the offensive line is rounding into form. If the defense continues to play like it has in the last three weeks, too, with 17 sacks and a number of turnovers forced, the Steelers should be in great shape moving forward.
That has to be concerning to the rest of the AFC as Pittsburgh is playing good football, all while still building chemistry and gelling.
