This coming season will look vastly different for the Pittsburgh Steelers — even more so than it did the season after Ben Roethlisberger retired.
After firing Matt Canada and replacing him with Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh completely dismantled its quarterback room this offseason. Everyone was out: First, Mitch Trubisky, then Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett. They were replaced by two guys on opposite ends of the spectrum in nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson and work-in-progress Justin Fields.
Will the Steelers be better off from a record standpoint merely because they upgraded at the quarterback position?
The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly doesn’t believe it’s as simple as that.
“Some look at the 10 wins last year and just automatically say it can be 12 in 2024,” Kaboly wrote in a recent mailbag. “But what about the games they won that they easily could have lost? Cleveland, Baltimore, Green Bay and Tennessee are four games off the top of my head that the Steelers easily could have lost.”
Except for the Week 16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, each of Pittsburgh’s 10 wins was by a touchdown or less.
Of course, as key as quarterback play is, football is a team sport, and any number of aspects can determine the outcome.
