Knee Jerk Reaction to the Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 Schedule

The NFL has released the schedules for the forthcoming 2024 season, and we now know who the Steelers are playing and when. At first glance, the schedule seems to lend to what could be a very winnable roadmap and put the Steelers back into the postseason. 

ESPN has already come out to say Pittsburgh will finish in last place in the AFC North which I scoff at. That is a ridiculous prediction given the changes made in the offseason and the additions to the roster from free agency and the draft. ESPN added that the Steelers will have one of the worst offenses in the NFL yet one of the elite defenses. At least they got that half correct. That’s a joke to say they will be one of the worst offenses. 

With that said, here is my knee jerk reaction to the entire schedule game-by-game and who I believe will win each game. Take into consideration that these assumptions are provided based on no players being injured and not playing and that all are playing to potential. Obviously, there will be injuries and players missing games thus these picks may not be entirely accurate. But I’m going to wing it.

Week 1: Steelers at Falcons: If Atlanta Falcons fans think Kirk Cousins is their savior they better think again. While he is a fine quarterback, he’s not getting the Dirty Birds to the Super Bowl. Waiting in the wings is first round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. and there is a good chance he starts by season’s end. In the meantime, the Steelers are going to open eyes this season both offensively and defensively and you better believe this offense behind Russell Wilson is going to produce and it begins on opening day. This is not going to be a repeat of last year’s embarrassing loss to the 49ers. The Steelers win this one on the road.

Week 2: Steelers at Broncos: This is going to be a fun one. Russell Wilson’s return to where he played football last season. Revenge factor? Somewhat. Rookie Bo Nix has already been named the starter in Denver at quarterback and the Steelers have a history of feasting on rookie signal callers. As difficult as it might seem I see the Steelers going up 2-0 on the road to start their season. 

Week 3: Steelers vs. Chargers: If the Steelers are 2-0 at this point, then there is a great chance to go up three without a loss by being at home, especially this being the home opener. Can you imagine the raucous crowd that will be there to cheer on their “new look” Steelers? I can’t wait for this one. Pittsburgh wins the first three.

Week 4: Steelers at Colts: You can’t win forever and going back on the road against a very tough Indy team, this will be close, but Pittsburgh will most likely lose their first game here. 

Week 5: Steelers vs. Cowboys: These two teams have not met since November 8, 2020, in a game Pittsburgh won on the road and it’s always cool to have a Super Bowl X and XIII rematch. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says his team is “all in” for this season and Dak Prescott’s Dallas career is probably on the line in 2024. The Cowboys received heavy criticism this offseason for not making many changes to improve and that will cost them in my opinion. Dallas wins in the regular season and then falls down in the playoffs at least the last few times they’ve been there. Playing at home this could easily be yet another victory in the early stages of the season. Can you say a 4-1 start?

Week 6: Steelers at Raiders: The Steelers and Raiders played in 2022 and again in 2023. Pittsburgh won both. Make it three in a row as Las Vegas has Aidan O’Connell as their starting quarterback at least at the time of this article. Does that put a scare into the Steelers defense? Hardly. 5-1.

Week 7: Steelers vs. Jets: The question here is whether Aaron Rodgers has made it this far into the season without an injury after having his season ended in the season opener in 2023 early in the game. I hear a lot of noise about how good New York is going to be this season but I’m not one buying it. They have a solid defense and even if Rodgers is behind center, the Steelers will be ready for him and the Jets. Especially at home where by now the fans will be celebrating a fantastic start to the season. Take those critics of the Steelers, I believe they could easily start this season winning six of the first seven.

Week 8: Steelers vs. Giants: As I said earlier in this article this new schedule favors the Steelers and is a winnable one. Perhaps I’m being over optimistic, but I can see the Steelers winning this one too. That would put them at 7-1 which is hard to swallow and perhaps a stretch, but it can happen.

Week 9: Steelers BYE: At this point if the previously predicted record stands, the bye week will come at a great time and Mike Tomlin and his team can start preparing for a strong second half run, nine games that include playing all the teams in their division. 

Week 10: Steelers at Commanders: Another rookie quarterback to face the Steelers and I just don’t think any of the aforementioned teams will be better than Pittsburgh this season. I gave the Steelers a loss to the Chargers on the road and that’s because the ‘Bolts always play Pittsburgh tough and it’s a road game. Can Jayden Daniels beat the Steelers defense? I don’t think so. I’m probably fooling myself to believe that Pittsburgh would be 8-1 on the season after this game and I’ll probably end up being wrong, but on the surface that’s how it looks to me. 

Week 11: Steelers vs. Ravens: Last season Pittsburgh won both games against Baltimore and they just seem to have Lamar Jackson’s number. If this game were on the road I’d make it a loss. But if my predictions thus far ring true, the Steelers will be in a great flow at this point, full of confidence, and rolling with a head of steam. Yet another victory. 

Week 12: Steelers at Browns: Something tells me Deshaun Watson won’t be the starter by this point in the season. He’s simply not that good. So, if he is replaced, currently second on Cleveland’s depth chart is Jameis Winston who interestingly enough John Harbaugh has put him ahead of Tyler Huntley who has had good success filling in for Jackson. The Browns will probably pull this one off. But the spotlight will be on who outperforms the other between 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and the man who should have won the award TJ Watt. If the Browns win at home, it puts the Steelers at 9-2.

Week 13: Steelers at Bengals: The Pittsburgh Steelers did a number on the AFC North last season losing just one game in the division to the Browns and the Bengals will want to get one back as playoff scenarios start to unfold by this time. If Joe Burrow is healthy, I would expect the Steelers to lose this one on the road. I do think however, no team on this schedule will blow out the Steelers in any game this season. 

Week 14: Steelers vs. Browns: Returning home, I see Pittsburgh getting the season split here which would now make their record if I’m correct at 10-3.

Week 15: Steelers at Eagles: The “Battle for Pennsylvania” takes place late in the season and unless Eagles starter Jalen Hurts is either injured or has played so poorly, he is replaced his backup, Kenny Pickett won’t get a shot at the Steelers defense. That’s too bad because that would be a lot of fun seeing how he would do against his former teammates. I recently wrote an article for Yinzer Crazy about Steelers first round draft busts and Pickett was in that list. This will be the best team Pittsburgh has faced all season and I expect a loss here. 

Week 16: Steelers at Ravens: I don’t think the Steelers can sweep the Ravens again so mark this one down as a loss and put the Steelers’ record at 10-5. 

Week 17: Steelers vs. Chiefs: This game will serve as a measuring stick to see where the Steelers are as playoff and Super Bowl contenders. Kansas City has Patrick Mahomes who is just the most elite quarterback in the NFL right now and shows no signs of slowing down. Pittsburgh might keep it close early but, in the end, Travis Kelce is a game killer, and he will once again be the difference. Pittsburgh has lost the last three games to Kansas City dating back to 2018. They aren’t on the level of the Chiefs just yet. At least before the season begins that can be easily said. It would be a nice Christmas Day gift for the fans, but I’ll mark this as a loss which will be Pittsburgh’s sixth. 

Week 18: Steelers vs. Bengals: What remains to be seen about this game is whether it has any playoff implications or plays a factor in who wins the AFC North. Cincinnati will not be sweeping the Steelers this season so pencil this in as a season ending victory and Pittsburgh preparing for the playoffs. 

Final record? From how I’ve looked at the schedule my math has the Pittsburgh Steelers finishing the season with a record of 11-6. That would be an improvement of just one game from last season but how the Steelers play throughout the season will be the difference. Take into consideration first round draft pick Troy Fautanu and the second-round selection of Zach Frazier, both men will be opening day starters as the offensive line should be much improved. 

We have two new quarterbacks with the starter in Russell Wilson, a proven commodity. Roman Wilson looks like the real deal and will be a nice complement to George Pickens. On the defense side, many Steelers fans like me are salivating at the prospect of seeing TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Patrick Queen, Cole Holcomb, Nick Herbig, and newcomer and rookie Payton Wilson flying all over the field, chasing down quarterbacks, and making tackles. This defense should be amazing.

How this all plays out now is just a matter of wait and see. I like the Steelers chances this year and believe they will be a much better team from the season before and you can rest assured that Mike Tomlin’s streak of consecutive winning seasons is going to be extended yet another year. I believe they will also finally get over that playoff hump and even possibly make a deep post season run.



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