The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2024 NFL Season Review

Another winning season. Another Wild Card defeat. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 season looked a lot like their 2023 season and closely resembled 2021 and 2020. The 14-point margin of their defeat to the Baltimore Ravens in January was exactly the same as their 31-17 defeat to the Buffalo Bills 12 months earlier, as was their 10-7 regular season record. 

That apparent continuity doesn’t begin to tell the story of 2024 — this was a season of optimistic highs and dramatic collapses, and it began with a genuine attempt by the franchise to build something new and progress to the next level. 

Hindsight is Deceptive

Given how the season ended, it is understandable that Steelers fans are critical of the organization right now. A lot of those criticisms are fair, but the one inaccurate is the suggestion that the franchise was complacent going into 2024. 

The predictions going into the season were not promising. NFL betting sites were ranking the Steelers as outsiders in their division and no one was expecting much from Mike Tomlin’s team. But the franchise was proactive throughout the off-season. 

For a start, they hired their first outside offensive coordinator since 2012, bringing in Arthur Smith. More significantly, they completely rebuilt their quarterback department. Mason Rudolph, Mitch Trubisky, and Kenny Pickett were all out, as was Diontae Johnson, the team’s leading route runner and long-serving receiver. 

There were imaginative acquisitions too. Patrick Queen was taken from the Ravens and DeShon Elliott was added to strengthen the secondary, while Andy Weidl and Omar Khan fully committed to their "build from the trenches" strategy in the 2024 NFL Draft. And of course, there was Russell Wilson. 

Were these changes effective? Ultimately, no. But this was not due to a failure of imagination or an excess of complacency, and Tomlin and Khan deserve some credit for taking drastic action to move the team forward. 

Big Start and Russ On Fire

The Steelers didn’t have much luck early on. Wilson was injured for six weeks, which meant Justin Fields had to step up. He did about as well as you’d expect. He had moments of unpredictability and brilliance, and when Wilson was ready to roll, he inherited a 4-2 record to build on. 

This was the beginning of the Steelers’ purple patch. The defense was working hard, forcing crucial turnovers and the Wilson-powered offense was suddenly a deep passing threat. 

Pittsburgh took out the New York Jets and the New York Giants, and followed that with wins over Washington and Baltimore. They slipped up on a tricky road game in the snow in Cleveland, but two more wins followed, including an impressive victory over the Browns. Hitting the end of November, the Steelers were leading the AFC North and Tomlin was being talked of as a potential coach of the year. 

Running Out of Road

At this point, a minor issue started to become a major problem. At the end of the 2023 season, amid the disappointment, there was optimism about the possibilities for the Steelers' running game. The offensive line wasn’t doing great at helping Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, but it was getting better and an offense built mainly around the run had potential. 

Yet while the quality of quarterbacking improved in 2024, the running game deteriorated. Just as the defense came up with big plays at crucial times, the running offense failed at key moments. 

In the opening game against Atlanta, the regular season finale against the Bengals, and twice in the first game against the Browns, Pittsburgh was 4th & 1 or 4th & 2 and the rushing offense could not deliver a crucial first down. Sometimes, the defense bailed them out — but other times, they fell short.

And the bigger picture was that Smith, who had earned a reputation for a physical style of football, was unable to bring that to Pittsburgh. And when Tomlin needed to lean on the running game, it failed. 

What were the reasons for this failure? Smith’s system? The way Harris and Warren were utilized? The weakness of the offensive line? Most likely, it was the third option, given the youth of the personnel and the number of injuries the department sustained. They have time and plenty of upside, but that is no consolation to Steelers fans at this point. 

Defending the Indefensible

The Steelers had a simple plan for the post-Ben Roethlisberger era: go all-in on defense until a new franchise quarterback was discovered. The plan led to the extensions of T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alex Highsmith, and Cam Heyward, and that seemed to make sense. Until the 2024 season ruthlessly exposed the flaw in the plan: if you go all-in on defense and the defense fails, what happens next?

The December losses against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Ravens hinted at the danger, but the Steelers had a weakened defense in those games. That excuse did not fly against the Kansas City Chiefs and then against the Ravens again in the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes destroyed the Steelers’ pass defense, and the Ravens dominated them completely. When tested against elite offenses, the Pittsburgh defense, supposedly the team’s strength, completely collapsed. 

So What Happens Now?

In 2024, the Steelers made some changes, gained ground in some areas but fell back in others, and ultimately ended up exactly where they had started. So what now?

The Mike Tomlin era will continue. The defense-first strategy may not. Either Wilson or Fields are likely to be moved on, with the smart money apparently on Fields. In fact, all three current quarterbacks are on deals that end before the 2025 Draft, so there may even be a mass clear-out. 

A new quarterback and a star receiver to partner with George Pickens seem likewise aims, but both defensive and offensive lines also need attention. Is the Steelers’ transition still in its early stages or are they an off-season away from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? Time will tell. The franchise’s ability to grind out winning seasons has been impressive, but going a level higher seems to be as far away as ever in 2025.