NFL Network Believes Steelers Are Super Bowl Contenders

The Pittsburgh Steelers have very high hopes this season.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have their fans excited after an impressive offseason full of free agent signings and a loaded NFL Draft class. Those additions, aligned with Kenny Pickett's second season, has one NFL Network analyst believing this team is in contention for the Super Bowl. 

During a segment on Good Morning Football, the raving reviews were strong about what Pickett did last season, and how he makes this team a contender in 2023.

Kyle Brandt believes the Steelers have a way to work with a young quarterback. A "formula" they held onto with Ben Roethlisberger, and are now working on with Pickett. And the young QB knows how to win within it.

"I think the Steelers have this formula when you have a young quarterback... Do not mess the game up for us. Do not lose the game for us," Brandt said. "Roethlisberger tried hard to lose that first Super Bowl that they won, but they won in spite of him. Pickett already gets it."

Peter Schrager believes he now enters a group of elite quarterbacks such as AFC North rival Joe Burrow and Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes. 

"You fast forward to the end of the season and they’re in a huge Saturday night game on NFL Network and it’s snowy and it’s gross out and it’s Pickett who went six and two to finish the season," Schrager said. "He finished eighth in the NFL in quarterback rating last year. Eighth overall! Pickett was awesome last year down the stretch. So if Tomlin says he’s gonna take a leap from this, I think the sky is the limit. I thought, quietly, in a sea of [Joe] Burrow, [Patrick] Mahomes, Tua [Tagovailoa] talk, all that stuff, Kenny Pickett was awesome down the stretch and did everything he possibly could to solidify himself as the number one guy. And not only in Pittsburgh, but to be a contender."

Pickett threw just one interception in the team's final stretch of the season and finished 9-8, missing the playoffs on a last-second field goal by the Miami Dolphins to earn the final place in the AFC with a win over the New York Jets. 

If Brandt and Schrager are right, the Steelers and their fans are going to be thrilled. And like All Steelers Talk has mentioned time and time again this offseason, the Super Bowl window is certainly open for the Steelers. 

All behind the lead of their second-year quarterback. 

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