History Favors Steelers after 6-2 Start to Season
The Pittsburgh Steelers start at 6-2 on the season not only favors their 2024 schedule, but historically favors their playoff hopes.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off of a 26-18 victory over the New York Giants. For the first time since 2020, the offense is producing over 20 points per game. The addition of Arthur Smith has brought a much needed rejuvenation to the offense; resembling a classic brand of Steelers football.
After a 3-0 start to the season, the Steelers suffered two one possession losses the Colts and Cowboys. Since then, they have won their last three with two being by three possessions. Couple this offensive surge and the defense playing strong as they tend to do, the Steelers now sit alone at the top of the AFC North at 6-2.
A 6-2 record at this point of the season is very significant. Not only is the second half of the schedule a brutal one, but the current record tends to favor the Steelers historically. Since the 2002 realignment, Pittsburgh has found themselves at 6-2 a total of seven times. The most recent occurrence came in 2017 which was in the middle of an eight game winning streak.
Of the seven 6-2 starts, the Steelers found themselves in the postseason in all but one of them; in 2009. Not only did they make the postseason in six of seven seasons, they found themselves in the Super Bowl in three of those seasons and winning two.
2005 – Won Super Bowl XL
2007 – Made playoffs, lost in Wild Card
2008 – Won Super Bowl XLIII
2009 – Missed playoffs
2010 – Made playoffs, lost in Super Bowl
2011 – Made playoffs, lost in Wild Card
2017 – Made playoffs, lost in Divisional Round
That’s not to say this team is as strong as those Super Bowl teams. There are still areas of offensive improvement needed both in the red zone and in personnel. For the defense, there have been moments that included miscommunications, poor tackling, and missed opportunities. You can’t complain about the defense in whole, though, as they average less than 15 points allowed per game. That is a statistic that will trump over most others.
The Steelers back half of the season schedule includes all six divisional games, a Commanders team that is suddenly leading their division, and two Super Bowl teams in the Chiefs and Eagles. The bye week came at a good time. The Steelers will need to get healthy quickly and prepare to make a push for the post season.
The good news is since the 17-game expansion in 2021, the Steelers never have finished worse than a 3-3 record in the division. They are designed to battle their divisional foes. Make no mistake though, it will be a long nine games. That 6-2 start might be the difference between a shot at the playoffs and an early offseason.
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