Caleb Harris
In 2008, the Pittsburgh Steelers navigated the NFL Toughest schedule to beat the franchise’s sixth and most recent Super Bowl. If Pittsburgh will win its seventh Super Bowl this year, they will once again have to overcome what could be the most difficult phase in the league.
On paper, the Steelers have a team capable of making the playoffs and making some noise once they get there. I make them go from 10 to 7 for the second year in a row, but I admit that this projection is quite optimistic. A 10-win regular season would be a pretty significant accomplishment for the Steelers based on their schedule.
Below is my ranking of the five reasons Mike Tomlin’s team might have the NFL toughest regular season schedule. Before we dive into that, we should quickly mention a few positives about Pittsburgh’s schedule: a Week 9 bye and the fact that the Steelers will host three primetime games (the Cowboys in Week 5, the Jets in Week 7 and the Giants in Week 8). Pittsburgh will also host the Chiefs on Christmas instead of traveling to Kansas City.
5. 10 games against teams with winning records
Admittedly, only two of Pittsburgh’s first eight games were against teams that have winning records in 2023 (at Colts in Week 5, home vs. Cowboys in Week 5). But that doesn’t include the season opener against a Falcons team that, on paper, should be a much better team than one that has compiled three 7-10 records in each of the last three years.
Pittsburgh’s first eight games also include home games against two of NFL top quarterbacks Justin Herbert of the Chargers and Aaron Rodgers of the Jets. The Jets are expected to be a major player in the AFC this year with the return of Rodgers, a four-time league MVP who missed most of the 2023 season with an Achilles injury.
4. A series of early road games
Four of Pittsburgh’s first six games have been on the road, which is obviously not ideal. One positive here is that three of the Steelers’ five games will be played at Acrisure Stadium.
As mentioned above, the Steelers open with a road game against Atlanta, which will be led this year by four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Steelers will then try to snap their four-game losing streak in Denver next week in Russell Wilson’s first game against his former team.
Pittsburgh’s early schedule also includes games in the always-hostile Indianapolis and Las Vegas. The Steelers won in Sin City last year but were eliminated in Indianapolis in Week 15.
3. NFL third hardest SOS
Based on last year’s results, the Steelers the third toughest schedule in the NFL, behind only the Browns and Ravens. Pittsburgh’s opponents have won 53.3 percent of their games in 2023. That’s scary enough, but the Steelers’ schedule is even tougher when you actually look at the games that are expected to be the easiest.
We’ve already talked about the Jets and Falcons, who should be significantly better than they were in 2023 because of Cousins and Rodgers. Another team that should give the Steelers offenses that are largely being overlooked is the Commanders, who made sweeping moves this offseason that include signing defensive guru Dan Quinn, drafting Jayden Daniels’ quarterback with the second overall pick and agent acquisitions. free of versatile running back Austin Ekeler, former Chiefs offensive lineman Nick Allegretti, three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz and six-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner.
One positive for the Steelers is that they will face the Commanders in Week 10, which comes right after the Week 9 bye.
2. Two short weeks
The 2020 Steelers started 11-0 before stumbling and finishing 1-5. A big reason for Pittsburgh’s late-season collapse was the season-ending injuries to starting linebackers Devin Bush and Bud Dupree. Playing three games in 12 days, which was the byproduct of the COVID-19 outbreak, also played a role in Pittsburgh’s collapse.
As they did then, the Steelers will again face a condensed schedule following their Week 9 bye. After facing the Commanders in Week 10, the Steelers will face two AFC North division rivals over a five-day period. Pittsburgh will host the Ravens in Week 11 before traveling to Cleveland to face the Browns on Thursday night. Making this stretch even more difficult is the fact that the Ravens and Browns have won a combined 24 regular season games in 2023.
However, this isn’t the most condensed part of Pittsburgh’s schedule. Starting in Week 15, the Steelers will play three games in an 11-day span: against the Eagles on December 15, at Baltimore on December 21 and at home against the two-time defending champion Chiefs on Christmas Day. These three teams have won a combined 35 games in 2023.
1. The last eight games are against teams that have a winning record in 2023
The Commanders are the last team the Steelers will face this year that didn’t post a winning record last year. Of Pittsburgh’s last eight games, Cincinnati (which has a 9-8 record in 2023) is the only team that didn’t make the playoffs last year. The Bengals are expected to be even better this year with quarterback Joe Burrow back after missing the second half of the 2023 season with a wrist injury.
Each of the Steelers’ six divisional games will also take place during this period, starting with a home game against Baltimore in Week 11. Pittsburgh will play four consecutive games against divisional opponents before hosting the Bengals in Week 18.
