The Pittsburgh Steelers have a record-setting regular season streak going under head coach Mike Tomlin. In his 17 seasons as head coach, the team has never had a record below the .500 mark, which is an NFL record. Alas, keeping that streak going in 2024 will be a challenge.
According to some metrics, the Pittsburgh Steelers have by far the toughest schedule in the NFL this upcoming season. Warren Sharp of The Ringer and SportsGrid shared some strength of schedule expectations for the end of the regular season and Pittsburgh is in a league of its own.
In a weird scheduling quirk, the Steelers aren’t playing a divisional game until Week 11. That means over the final eight games of the season, they will be playing the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns six times.
Divisional games are difficult enough as the teams know each other very well. But, Pittsburgh gets no breaks in the other two games. They will be playing against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas and the Philadelphia Eagles in the other non-divisional game.
Based on the chart shared by Sharp, the Pittsburgh Steelers need to make the most of the first half of their schedule. Nearly half of their first nine opponents are projected to be near the .500 mark, but that is considerably easier than the final two months.
The Browns, who made the playoffs this past season and are projected for 8.7 wins, are the only opponent from Week 11 through the end of the regular season that are projected for fewer than 10 wins. While anything can happen during the season, as some projects are bound to not hit, a winning record for the 2024 campaign will be hard-earned by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
If there is one coach who will be able to get his team to overcome those difficulties, it is Tomlin. He responds to adversity well and gets the most out of his players even when they are at a talent deficiency.
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