Another day, another article or tweet about how the Pittsburgh Steelers will disappoint and have a poor campaign during the 2022-2023 NFL regular season.
As the tweet above shows, the "expert" oddsmakers over in Las Vegas believe that the Steelers will finish under .500, subsequently earning head coach Mike Tomlin his first losing season with the organization.
This would imply that the Steelers would only be the eighth best team in the league, and while the predictions may be warranted with all the change within the organization, it's hard for me to say that teams like the Miami Dolphins with a rookie head coach, or the Washington Commanders with their well-documented off-the-field issues, will be able to accomplish more than this Steelers team.
I've written about this at length before, both in my season preview, as well as in an earlier article about what different sports books were setting the Steelers team total wins at.
I still maintain the position that despite the changes the Steelers will have to adapt to in the upcoming season, it will still not be enough for the team to finish below .500.
It would appear that the point of contention would be the quarterback position, whether it be Mitch Trubisky or Kenny Pickett, is the glaring "weak spot" for the Steelers this year.
I would argue that either would be put in a position to succeed due to the fact that all three phases of the game have improved for the Steelers.
The future of the Steelers
It's easy to hit the panic button when your Hall of Fame quarterback retires, but outside of losing Ben Roethlisberger, I would argue that this year's team is even better than last year.
Najee Harris has an improved line to run behind with the additions of Mason Cole and James Daniels. Trubisky or Pickett have a stable of weapons that may equal or end up being better than the group of receivers that Roethlisberger had last year, not to mention that improvements were made to an already stout Pittsburgh defense with the addition of Myles Jack, Montravious Adams, and Levi Wallace to name a few.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, Myles Jack (#51) participates in the organized team activities (OTA's), Tuesday, May 24, 2022 at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. | Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
With a schedule that has the Steelers facing the AFC East and NFC South, it puzzles me how Vegas has the Steelers finishing on par with the Detroit Lions, New York Jets, and Cleveland Browns.
I know the Steelers aren't anyones Super Bowl favorites coming into this season, but it also puzzles me how quickly people write off a team that made the playoffs last year, especially one that improved rather than regress.
Even if the Steelers were to split all division games, I find it hard to believe that they couldn't find more than three wins outside of the division given the pedigree of a coaching staff that added Brian Flores to it, along with the same young core of players on both sides of the ball.
I don't think it's in the cards for a team that hasn't had a losing season since 2003, to then finish three games under .500. Call me crazy or call me biased, but the "experts" are going to cost Vegas some money this season when it comes to the Steelers.
Tell us what you think below. Will Vegas guess correctly? Or will the Steelers surprise people across the league?
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