Through Three Weeks, Steelers’ Daunting Schedule Not As Hard As It Once Seemed

When the NFL schedule was initially released, the Pittsburgh Steelers appeared to have gotten the short end of the stick. The opponents are determined well in advance of the schedule release, so we knew it would be a difficult schedule, but the order of the games made a tough task look even more daunting. Many media outlets proclaimed it the toughest schedule in all of football.

With how much parity there is in the NFL, sometimes it isn’t worth getting worked up over the schedule. Often, the knee-jerk reactions end up far from reality once things play out.

It is still too early to make any bold proclamations, but based on the way things have played out so far, the Steelers’ schedule looks much more manageable than it once did.

NFL Nerd on X shared this, based on ESPN’s power rankings after Week 3. According to the power rankings, the Steelers are tied for the eighth-easiest schedule remaining.

One of the big reasons for this is the fact that the AFC North has gotten off to an extremely slow start. The Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland Browns currently have two combined wins. The Ravens and Browns each have one, and the Bengals have started 0-3. This has all three teams sliding in the power rankings as the Steelers have catapulted into the top 10.

If you add up the record of the Steelers’ remaining 14 opponents (including each divisional foe twice), they have a combined record of 18-26. Only three of the teams, the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Commanders, have a record above .500.

Things can and will change many times over between now and the end of the season, but I found this very interesting for what was once viewed as the toughest schedule in several different metrics.

Who would have thought that the Commanders would look like one of the toughest games remaining on the schedule after the first few weeks of the season? It goes to show how great the NFL is. There are always good teams that underperform and seemingly bad teams that rise to the top.