2023 Pittsburgh Steelers Preview and Predictions
Scott Morris | September 4, 2023
The Pittsburgh Steelers had their fair share of ups and downs in the 2022 season. They started off with Mitch Trubisky as their quarterback but he didn’t stay for long. He was replaced by Kenny Pickett at halftime of Week 4 and that didn’t go so well in the start. They lost a couple of games and by Week 9 they were just 2-6. Just as fans started to lose hope, the team turned the game around with a win against the New Orleans Saints in Week 10.
With a 7-2 record after the bye there was a possibility that the Steelers would indeed make it to the playoffs. However, the final week didn’t help, despite winning a game against the Cleveland Browns, and the team failed to make it through.it just wasn’t meant to be. Making it to the playoffs was their “thing” for a while now but the odds were just against them this time around.
With the 2023 offseason, the team planned to benefit by bringing in more talent to the roster and they did quite well in that regard.
Roster Changes
In free agency, the team lost their cornerback Cameron Sutton to the Detroit Lions which was pretty difficult. They replaced him with Patrick Peterson and with his stellar record the team is hopeful that he will do just as good as the former. On the offense, the team went for a big name to fill the gap on the roster. Wide receiver Allen Robinson II was the big name who took the place of Chase Claypool on the field. Free agency went pretty good and the Steelers successfully recovered from any kind of loss.
The bringing in talent plan was the same for the 2023 NFL Draft as well. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was quite the major pick from Day 2. They also managed to draft the duo from Wisconsin, Keeanu Benton and Nick Herbig who make quite the team on the field. Apart from this, one of the more valuable moves from the Steelers was drafting tight end Darnell Washington. Despite facing foot injuries in the past, he is a talented player with an impressive record and will, without a doubt, complement Pat Freiermuth very well.
On paper, the Steelers new and improved roster is quite a sight but only time will tell if it is good enough to win. The one concern still present is the lack of talent at center. Mason Cole hasn’t done a great job previously and the same is the case with his backup Spencer Anderson. The team needs to pay attention to this matter before it is too late.
It’ll be the second season for Pickett and the roster is counting on him to carry the team towards victory. Head coach Mike Tomlin has no plans of failing and will fight through a tough schedule that awaits the team.
2023 Pittsburgh Steelers Odds
division +475
conference 2200
Super Bowl +4000
Total wins 8.5
Analysis: The Steelers seem to be able to reinvent themselves over and over and have done so since Bill Cowher took over the team in 1992. They haven’t suffered many bad seasons in the past thirty years. This year may be an exception. Its true that there is some key talent on this team but they have to play the Ravens, Bengals and Browns twice each. We can easily see them going 2-4 in those games. We can see them winning about 7 or 8 games this year. I would probably take Under 8.5 wins if forced to bet this. But, its hard to bet against Mike Tomlin.
