Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers seriously overachieved to finish at 9-8 and nearly make the playoffs. This was in the first year of the Kenny Pickett era at quarterback. The front office has been aggressive in the offseason to build off of that success in the offseason in hopes of making this team a contender in the AFC North in 2023.
But ESPN doesn’t seem to be impressed. They put out their new power rankings and they have the Steelers ranked No. 19 in the NFL. While that might be disappointing, the fact that in those same rankings, the Steelers are the No. 12 team in the AFC on it is even worse.
ESPN also has the Steelers as the fourth-best team among those in the AFC. They have the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 4, the Baltimore Ravens at No. 10 and the Cleveland Browns at No. 17.