Colin Cowherd Praises Steelers; Big Changes Coming For AFC North

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not usually on the receiving end of praise from NFL Insider Colin Cowherd. In fact, he put out a recent show that amended his 2023 playoff teams. That clip had people saying, "Cowherd, blink twice if you've been kidnapped." 

On The Herd, Cowherd's show, he said that he had a restless night because of the influence of his co-host Jason "J Mack" McIntyre. That restless night led Cowherd to add the Steelers to his board of teams making the playoffs at the end of the 2023 season. In fact, he has them going over the often-favored Baltimore Ravens. 

Cowherd noted that his AFC predictions looked a lot like last year because he believes the AFC has the best quarterbacks currently in the NFL. He notes that the NFC does not have nearly as many, the Philadelphia Eagles and Jalen Hurts excluded.

Cowherd said that he has only four new playoff teams this season and all are in the NFC - Lions, Panthers, Saints, and Rams. This leaves him needing two more teams on board and says one of them is Pittsburgh, over Baltimore. He does still have the Cincinnati Bengals winning the division.  

The Three Reasons Cowherd Says The Steelers Will Make The Playoffs 

Reason Number One:

"If T.J. Watt plays, they win. Last year, 8-2 when T.J. Watt played, last two years 17-7 when T.J. Watt played. And he's healthy. If he plays, they win."

During the 2022 season, Watt was injured during the Week 1 matchup against the Bengals. Without Watt, the defense struggled. All of the attention that is usually heaped on Watt was diverted to Alex Highsmith who was often double-teamed, while Devin Bush was still lackluster at best. 

The Steelers lost game after game until Watt finally returned Week 10. Whether it is motivational, or if it is legitimately a case of him physically improving the defense, the impact is the same. Cowherd is not wrong, they are more likely to win if he is playing.   

Reason Number Two:

"The second reason is their top seven or eight players don't get hurt much. Cameron Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, T.J. Watt had only one year with injuries, Pat Freiermuth, Najee [Harris], Alex Highsmith, Kenny Pickett - they don't get hurt, they play. Their chief rival the Ravens' top six players outside Mark Andrews, the tight end, all get hurt - tackles, running backs, Lamar Jackson, wide receivers."

Cowherd better not be jinxing the Steelers (knock on wood here), but he is right again. The best Steelers players are also the team's healthiest players. That hasn't always been the case, but it is right now. 

Reason Number Three:

"The third reason is they finished winning six of seven and four straight. Why? Their defense was unbelievable. Last seven opponents held under 20 points. Combine that with Kenny Pickett, who had some come from behind late game wins, and I would guess with that coaching staff and the upgrade to the o-line, he's probably going to get better in year two since he didn't even start [at the beginning of] last year, and every two or three weeks, he got better." 

Pickett did improve, substantially as the year went on. He did not start Week 1, that honor went to veteran journeyman Mitch Trubisky. When Trubisky was benched Week 4 in favor of Pickett at halftime, people were concerned and rightfully so. Pickett had a rough month. It wasn't until the bye week and those adjustments that Pickett seemed to turn it around. In fact, the whole team did. 

Cowherd added that the Steelers' schedule helps them out this year. He notes them pitting their exceptional defense against a minimum of six rookie or first year quarterbacks in San Francisco, Houston, Tennessee, Green Bay, Arizona, and Indianapolis. He noted that the Steelers' defense held more legitimate quarterbacks than any of those to 14-17 points last season. 

"The Pittsburgh Steelers, not the Baltimore Ravens as of this morning are a playoff team," declares Cowherd.

Do you agree with Cowherd? Do you think the Steelers have a shot at the playoffs over Baltimore? Click to comment below!

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