Following the NFL Draft, Colin Cowherd of FS1 was bullish on the outlook of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 season. He even said they had a top-5 roster in the NFL.
“I don’t care how good the division is. I need 12 (wins). … To me, I look at rosters in the NFL, I have the Steelers on a short list of top-5,” Cowherd said.
Miraculously, Cowherd’s tune has now changed. He believes the Steelers will miss the playoffs and finish third in the AFC North, behind Cincinnati and Baltimore.
“Steelers, they can’t figure out their o-line or their offensive coordinator. I love their roster frankly, I worry in an offensive league about getting it right on that side of the ball,” Cowherd said recently on The Herd.
The Steelers have bolstered their offensive line through the draft and free agency over the last two offseasons, so I don’t know how Cowherd formed that opinion. Most analysts are encouraged by what the Steelers have done upfront.
And, the jury is still out on offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. There are some skeptics, but he can’t be any worse than Matt Canada. The Steelers dramatically improved at OC and quarterback this offseason, I don’t think that can be disputed.
Cowherd is also worried about the Steelers’ daunting schedule and fierce competition in the AFC North.
“AFC North, it’s the best division in football, so it’s inches, not feet,” Cowherd said.
Cowherd has expressed concerns over the Steelers’ schedule previously. He believes the back-end of the schedule is the toughest in the NFL history.
“That is the toughest schedule I have ever seen, (from) Thanksgiving on, in league history,” Cowherd said.
The Steelers’ final eight straight games are against teams expected to have winning records, 6-of-8 expected to win over 10 games. On paper, it’s the hardest final eight games in the NFL, according to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football. All six of their AFC North divisional games come in that span, too.