The Pittsburgh Steelers spent their 2024 offseason adding talent to the roster to ensure the team was able to legitimately compete with the top NFL teams. With a rebuilt quarterback group, a young offensive line, and a ridiculously talented defense, Pittsburgh is eager to test its squad and see how much growth has really happened. The Steelers' 2024 schedule will certainly challenge every single aspect of the team, and not everyone is confident that Pittsburgh will be up to the task.
%202023%20Camp%20Final%20with%20Logos/8.13.23%20(71%20of%20318)-544x306.jpg "Steelers Mike Tomlin")
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin walks on the field at St. Vincent College as his players participate in 2023 training camp in Latrobe, PA.
Pittsburgh has an extremely difficult slate of games in the second half of the 2024 campaign. While hopes are high in Pittsburgh, outside of Steel City, the expectation is for the Steelers to fall when they are challenged by a slew of elite teams late in the year. On Sports4Cle, 92.3 The Fan, host Garrett Bush made it quite clear that he foresees a collapse when the Steelers go up against the meat of the 2024 schedule.
"Listen, they [Steelers] might be outta here. Like, and if their quarterback situation ain't figured out by then, it might be a wrap for them. I -- they did ya'll dirty. Listen, we came on the air and said, 'Hey, [weeks] 12 through 18 for the Browns is brutal', ha, ah, no. They gave ya'll all six AFC North teams, all six, right at the end of the year? Then you got the Eagles... Don't they have the Chiefs too? Ah, yeah, sorry, fellas, it ain't looking good for you over there, Mike Tomlin."
The Steelers have more than a few challenges waiting for them during the 2024 season. Not only does the team have one of the NFL's most difficult schedules overall, but the majority of the dangerous games are packed into the tail end of the year. Playing in the AFC North, arguably the most competitive and bruising division in the entire league, will be even harder as Tomlin and co. won't even begin the divisional slate until November 17.
Along with a compacted AFC North schedule, the Steelers have a three-game stretch that would be daunting to any franchise, but even more for a Steelers team fielding a brand-new offensive attack. Starting in Week 15, the Steelers will travel to play the Philadelphia Eagles, followed by a Week 16 Saturday game away against the Baltimore Ravens, and finally, a Week 17 Christmas Day game in Pittsburgh, hosting the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles and Chiefs represent two of the elite teams in the NFL, not to mention that Kansas City will be defending their back-to-back Super Bowl Championships. There is really only one way for a franchise to know how good it truly is, and that is to go up against the best that the league has to offer. In 2024, the Steelers will certainly get that, and it will be the answer to whether the roster is constructed in a way to get them back to playing in Super Bowls again.
ESPN
Late Steelers owner Dan Rooney, alongside head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, after a victorious Super Bowl XLIII
Steelers Are Built For Late-Season Challenges
The Steelers team that will play in those intimidating 2024 matchups will be a much better squad than the one Pittsburgh fans watched lose to the Buffalo Bills in the 2023 Wild Card game. The new, shiny quarterback room will be a factor, but the determining reason Pittsburgh can compete late in 2024 is its investment in the trenches.
Beginning with the now-released Mason Cole and James Daniels, the Steelers continued by adding Isaac Seumalo and Broderick Jones, with the group being rounded out in 2024 with Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, and Mason McCormick.
David Becker / Associated Press
Offensive lineman Troy Fautanu flashes a smile during his collegiate career with the Washington Huskies
Not only is their offensive line younger, it is built on the desire to move defenders and run the ball whenever they want. Najee Harris may be playing his final season with the Steelers, but that doesn't reduce the dangerous two-headed rushing attack he forms with Jaylen Warren.
Arthur Smith has been tasked with overseeing an offense that has been stagnant, and with a deep, talented offensive line and two reliable running backs, any bad-weather, late-season game will be right in their wheelhouse. As difficult as the second half of their 2024 schedule will be, the Steelers are confident that they are prepared for whatever the best teams in the league can throw at them.
What will the final record be for the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers?
#SteelerNation
