Predicting the Pittsburgh Steelers to finish in last place in any season qualifies as a bold prediction at this point, as the team hasn't landed in last place in the AFC North since its inception.
Taking it a step further, the last time the Steelers finished in last place was in 1988, when they were in the old AFC Central. That feels like another lifetime ago.
But one NFL analyst, CBS Sports' Will Brinson, believes that streak will end in 2024. He has the Steelers finishing 6-11 and in last place in the AFC North this coming season. Here's what he wrote:
The quarterback concerns are pretty big in Pittsburgh. The Steelers upgraded to Russell Wilson/Justin Fields, but Wilson hasn't even been on the field during much of training camp. That throws things into severe flux at the position. Fields could be a fantasy darling, but I don't know if his athletic style of quarterbacking will necessarily translate to a bunch of wins. The departure of Diontae Johnson means the Steelers are lacking on the wide receiver depth chart. George Pickens has unlimited upside with his skillset. After him, there was buzz about Van Jefferson as their WR2, although Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson have made some interesting noise in training camp. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are physical runners, and I tend to think an Arthur Smith offense is going to feature them heavily. I don't expect this to be an explosive unit. Defensively, if the Steelers are the top-five unit they can be, this might end up looking like a foolish projection. Fifteen-plus games of T.J. Watt is an absolute must because of how this defense drops off when he's out of the lineup.
As far as the rest of the division goes, Brinson has the Baltimore Ravens winning it at 12-5, the Cincinnati Bengals in second at 11-6, and the Cleveland Browns end up in third place at 7-10.
While all streaks come to an end, history is really working against Brinson with this prediction.
On top of the Steelers not finishing in last place since the 1988 campaign, head coach Mike Tomlin has never finished with a losing record.
Also, the Steelers are coming off a 10-win season that saw them make the playoffs and have since upgraded at quarterback and along the offensive line in 2024, which were two of their biggest issues in 2023.
Depending on how things go with their new pieces and the rest of the division, we could see the Steelers finishing anywhere from first to third. But we wouldn't bet on old reliable Tomlin and Co. finishing in dead last, that's for sure.
