About that new schedule Steelers fans. The NFL announced all the games and locations Wednesday night. But after the sheer excitement of it all, reality set in. This slate is backloaded for the end of the season.
It’s hard.
In fact, based on how teams finished last season, the Steelers face the third toughest strength of schedule behind only Cleveland and Baltimore. (We’re sensing an AFC North theme). Of course, the strength of schedule will change once teams actually start playing games this fall.
Maybe Steelers president Art Rooney II summarized it the best.
“It’s probably not exactly how I would have drawn it up, but we’ve got to do the best we can,” Rooney said. “On the positive side, we’ve got some high-profile, marquee games with the Cowboys and the Chiefs on Christmas Day, a couple of other primetime games. We’ll be playing in front of a big audience most of the time, which is a good thing. A lot of the division games are at the end of the schedule, so it will be an interesting stretch there toward the end.”
The Steelers open play on the road against the Falcons. They’ll be the first team to face Kirk Cousins wearing an Atlanta uniform. And it’ll likely be a battle between two of the NFL’s most seasoned quarterbacks, with Russell Wilson the likely starter for Pittsburgh. Cousins and Wilson are both 35. Meanwhile, Arthur Smith, the Steelers new offensive coordinator, meets his old team. He was head coach of the Falcons for three seasons.
Then, Pittsburgh travels to Denver. It’ll be some weird nostalgia for Wilson. After all, his career seemingly fell apart while he was quarterback for the Broncos. It led him to Pittsburgh.
No joke. Our 2024 schedule is here. @laurelhighlands | @jharrison9292 | 📺: Schedule release coverage on NFLN pic.twitter.com/okiDg2L4XR
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 16, 2024
The Steelers open at Acrisure Stadium, Sept. 22, when they face the Chargers coached by Jim Harbaugh. But don’t get too comfortable at home. The Steelers hit the road again, this time traveling to Indianapolis for a date against the Colts. Indy really worked on its offense in the offseason with Anthony Richardson expected back in the lineup.
Then the Cowboys hit town for the Steelers first prime-time game of the season. That’s Oct. 6.
But here’s the quirky part of the schedule. The Steelers don’t play an AFC North opponent until Nov. 17. Then it’s a road contest against Cleveland for a Thursday Night Football game. After that, it’s on to Cincinnati for the Bengals, Dec. 1. The Browns head to Pittsburgh for a Dec. 8 date.
Overall, from weeks 11-18, the Steelers face the Ravens, Browns and Bengals, twice. This means games against some of the best quarterbacks in the AFC — Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Deshaun Watson. There’s also a date against the Chiefs, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Then there’s a contest between the Steelers and Eagles.
“You never take anything for granted,” Rooney said. “The teams in our division are all tough. Some people would say we have the toughest division in football, and I probably would agree with that. They’ll all be tough games. It will be a challenge.”
