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NFL Executive Defends Steelers' Brutal Scheduling

An NFL scheduling executive defended the brutal slate the Pittsburgh Steelers were handed.

Stephen Thompson

Oct 8, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum (64) prepares
Oct 8, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum (64) prepares / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers were already set to face one of the most brutal schedules in the NFL this coming season and that was before the NFL backloaded their slate with all six AFC North games, a trip to Philadelphia to face the Eagles and a Christmas Day game at home against the defending world champion Kansas City Chiefs.

It's an unusual layout for a schedule but the NFL's vice president of broadcast planning, Mike North, defended the decision to hand the Steelers so many divisional games and marquee matchups later in the season, after their Week 9 bye.

“We certainly didn’t set out to have any divisional games that late,” North said on a conference call with reporters after the schedule came out. “It’s like a college basketball schedule with the non-conference early. It wasn’t intentional but it wasn’t something we looked at and thought was unfair. You talk about the physicality of the divisional games, and I’m not sure that any NFL game is not a physical contest."

North said the league is going to look into trying to set up more late-season divisional games around the NFL moving forward. They appreciate how it raised the stakes of those November and December games because the divisional matchups hold so much weight on playoff races.

Steelers team president Art Rooney II told Steelers.com that this schedule "not exactly how I would have drawn it up," and added that it is highly unusual.

“They are bunched together,” Rooney said. “That’s probably going to be quite a stretch and will be a meaningful stretch, for sure. It’s kind of unusual. I’m not sure I can remember having one like this, where we don’t play any division games until late in the season. It’s something different.”

The Steelers have high hopes for the 2024 season and expect to not just return to the playoffs, but make a run through the postseason. First, they'll have to survive some tough tests during the regular season to get there.

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Stephen Thompson
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. 

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