The NFL season ended for the Pittsburgh Steelers in early January but it ended for the rest of the NFL when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Kevin Sabitus | Credit: Getty Images
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes hoists the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
The sports writers and analysts (and fans) gave KC until Monday morning to enjoy their victory and then immediately turned its attention to the 2023 season. ESPN led the way, they released their official power rankings and have the Steelers in 14th place.
The Steelers truly had this bizarre split season, they started out 2-6 and then bounced back after their bye week and finished 9-8. They won seven of their last nine games, including four in a row, to try to make a Wild Card spot. While they didn't make the playoffs, they did accomplish something remarkable.
Steelers Are On The Rise
The way the Steelers closed out the season has left a lot of questions about how good they actually are. Did they really improve that much? Was the second half of their schedule so easy that they just appeared to be improved?
The ESPN Power Rankings look like this:
1. Kansas City Chiefs (no surprise there, they did just win the Super Bowl)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (another no-brainer)
3. San Francisco 49ers
4. Cincinnati Bengals
5. Buffalo Bills
6. Dallas Cowboys
7. Los Angeles Chargers
8. Miami Dolphins
9. Minnesota Vikings
10. Jacksonville Jaguars
11. Baltimore Ravens
12. Detroit Lions
13. Seattle Seahawks
14. Pittsburgh Steelers
ESPN said in their analysis that the Steelers need to focus on building around Kenny Pickett. They also had this to say:
"QB Kenny Pickett finished his rookie season on a high note, going 7-2 after the bye and throwing five touchdown passes to one interception in that stretch. Now it's about taking the next steps - both individually and as an offense. Pickett will continue working with offensive coordinator Matt Canada, back for another year, but now it's about giving Pickett and the offense the tools to score more points. "
"That means upgrades to the scheme and personnel. At the top of the list, the Steelers have to figure out how to get wide receiver George Pickens more involved, and they should look to add offensive linemen and another offensive skill position player through the draft or free agency."
At least the Steelers were not the lowest-ranked AFC North team. The Cleveland Browns ranked 19th.
USA Today
The offensive line has been the Steelers' biggest Achilles heel for several years. The team drafted a lot of "sexy" positions like quarterback and running back and neglected the trenches, and we have paid the price.
The OL was one of the biggest improvements during 2022 and is a huge part of the reason the team fared as well as it did. They were remarkably injury free and played together the entire season. However, the Steelers cannot get complacent just because they outperformed expectations in 2021, there is still work to be done. The left side of the line remains a weakness and we saw it be exploited by a strong defense.
The bigger area of need is the defensive line. The DL is full of unknowns with lots of free agents. It too improved during 2022, going from last place against the run in 2021 to tying for seventh place. It seems likely that the Steelers, always defensive-minded, will be looking to improve the DL as well as the secondary.
The Steelers' defense celebrates in a game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Photo Credit: Karl Roser/ PittsburghSteelers.com
What do you think about the Steelers being ranked 14th? Is that better or worse than you expected? What do you think is their biggest area of need? Do you think we will leapfrog over any of the teams ahead of us on the list? Click to comment.
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