ESPN Still Has No Faith in Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been predicted to earn the first losing season of the Mike Tomlin era.

Stephen Thompson | May 15, 2024

Oct 8, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (30) and / Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports

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Pittsburgh Steelers

PITTSBURGH -- ESPN's Mike Clay does not have high hopes for the Pittsburgh Steelers this coming season and said as much in his yearly projections for the 2024 NFL season, which includes benchmarks for everything from win totals to statistical leaders.

Clay doesn't think the Steelers will be able to contend with one of the toughest schedules in professional football this coming season and will end up an 8-9 record that puts them at the bottom of the AFC North. They'd be the only team in the devision left out of the playoffs despite having a better point differential than 14 teams, if Clay's projections hold up.

Clay has Baltimore taking the division crown for a second straight year, followed by the Bengals and Browns. All three teams are predicted to post double-digit win totals.

It all boils down to some skepticism of the offense and the passing game in particular. Clay sees the Steelers defense as a potentially elite unit again in 2024, the fourth-best in the league, in fact. But he ranks the offense as the 27th-best in the NFL due in large part to questions at quarterback, wide receiver and offensive line.

Against the third-hardest schedule in football, Clay sees the Steelers losing games to the Falcons, Cowboys, Colts, Bengals, Jets, Chiefs and Eagles and losing all of their divisional games. The Steelers have been historically better than that against the rest of the AFC North, but Clay still predicts the first losing season of the Mike Tomlin era to come in 2024 nonetheless.

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Published May 15, 2024

STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper. He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press. During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.