When it comes to the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers have historically had an advantage when it comes to the distance they have to travel. Given the friendly geographic nature of the AFC North, division games are never a big issue. But the Steelers also seem to catch a break when it comes to non-division games as well.
This season, when looking at the full list of teams based on how far they have to travel for games, the disparity is remarkable. Pittsburgh will travel 6,442 miles this season for games. This is a full 2,000 miles less than the Detroit Lions, who are the next closest. Pittsburgh doesn’t even have to leave their own time zone for any games.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have the Seattle Seahawks. They will travel 29,446 miles in 2022 and will cross 34 times zones in the process. It’s hard to quantify how much this impacts a team but it is fair to assume when it comes to the strict body clocks most athletes operate on, this has to give Pittsburgh something of an edge.
