10 thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers and the 2024 NFL Season

The 2024 NFL Season is officially here.

The 2024 NFL season is officially here. So let’s talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers, some reasonable and realistic expectations and some other general thoughts around the league.

1. Just getting this out of the way at the start. The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to go 10-7, probably lose in the Wild Card round, maybe win a game and then lose in the divisional round, and that is about. That is probably their ceiling. That is also probably the most likely outcome because that is simply what they have been and what they are. I know the national perspective on them is that they are the worst team in the AFC North and might be a last place team, or that this might finally be the year Mike Tomlin has a losing season, but I am not fully convinced of that.

At least not yet.

This has been a 9-10 win team, and pretty much a playoff team, the past three seasons while getting what has objectively been some of the worst quarterback play in the NFL. That’s not supposed to happen. Teams that get quarterback play like the Steelers have received lately usually finish among the worst teams in the league.

It is a testament to how good the supporting cast has been, and yes, the coaching, that they have been able to win as many games as they have.

A lot of that — specifically on defense — is still in place, and it might be even better in some areas (more on that in a bit).

I am also reasonably confident that the quarterback play is going to be better this season. I have no delusions about Russell Wilson and Justin Fields being franchise players at this point or long-term answers at the position. The most likely scenario is they are stop-gaps and somebody else is playing that position next season. But even if the Steelers get 2023 Wilson and 2023 Fields those are both upgrades over the trio they were trotting out there the past couple of years. How much better remains to be seen. But they will be better. That might be enough to raise the ceiling from “wild card loss” to “divisional loss.”

2. Having said that, there are some potentially serious concerns with this roster. Specifically at wide receiver where it is George Pickens and a bunch of “man, I hope this guy works out” players. It’s not great.

I like the upside of Roman Wilson and the potential, but he is still pretty unproven as a rookie that had no training camp or preseason.

Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller can best be described as “just a guy.”

Pickens can be frustrating at times, but he is also electrifying and one of the best big-play receivers in football. And now there are two quarterbacks on the roster that can throw a deep ball reasonably well that might be able to take better advantage of that. There is some potential there with those connections. The problem is going to be getting him away from the inevitable double teams that are going to come without somebody to complement him on the other side.

I was fine with trading Diontae Johnson this offseason, but not having a better Plan B option to replace him is one of the big misses from general manager Omar Khan.