Travis and Jason Kelce once again raved about the Pittsburgh Steelers on their New Heights podcast Friday. In March, they both were bullish on the signing of quarterback Russell Wilson.
When breaking down the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2024 schedule on the latest edition of New Heights, Travis reiterated that he thinks Wilson is going to make the Steelers a tough team to beat in 2024.
“You throw Danger Russ on the Steelers and all of the sudden they are a very intriguing football team,” Travis Kelce said.
Jason Kelce added that he thinks Wilson could be the missing piece for the Steelers, as they’re always stout defensively and competitive with Mike Tomlin.
“They’re in all the games because their defense is so good. As long as T.J. Watt is healthy, Cam Heyward, as long as those guys are out there they’re going to be in most of the games. Mike Tomlin, they’re going to have opportunities. It’s always tough to come out of the AFC North,” he said.
All four AFC North teams had winning records last season. Jason thinks it’s the most competitive division in the NFL.
“Is the AFC North the most competitive division in football? I say yes,” Jason said. “Especially with [Joe] Burrow coming back healthy. I thought it was the most competitive last year.”
The AFC North has been the best division in the NFL since 2020, based on win % in non-division games 62.6% (106-63), according to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football.
The AFC North win percentage is by far superior than the other divisions — 54.7% (94-78) – NFC West, 52.9% (91-81) – AFC West, 51.5% (88-83) – AFC East, 49.1% (84-87) – NFC East, 48.5% (83-88) – NFC North, 43.0% (74-98) – NFC South, 37.8% (65-107) – AFC South.
“If you double the sample, from the last 4 years to the last 8, the Steelers track record within the AFC North is even more impressive: 71.9% (34-13-1) – Steelers 54.2% (26-22) – Ravens.38.5% (18-29-1) – Browns, 35.4% (17-31) – Bengals,” Sharp wrote on X.
“Insanely, the Steelers have virtually the same record vs each team the last 8 years: 12-4 vs Bengals, 11-4-1 vs Browns, 11-5 vs Ravens.”
All six of the Steelers’ AFC North divisional games come in the final eight games, so it’s going to be a brutal gauntlet down the stretch for the Black and Gold.