Steelers Have Mediocre History on Thursday Night Football

Tonight, the Pittsburgh Steelers welcome the Tennessee Titans to Acrisure Stadium for a primetime showdown between two young quarterbacks. While the Steelers are one of the best prime-time teams of all time, they have not had the best of luck when appearing on Thursday Night Football.

The Steelers own a record of 11-13 while playing in prime time on Thursday nights. Since the rearrangement put Thursday Night Football on the schedule regularly in 2006, the Steelers are 10-9 on Thursday nights. In addition, the Steelers own a 2-1 record against the Titans on Thursday night during that time frame.

The Steelers’ last Thursday Night Football game came on Sept. 22, 2022, a 29-17 loss to the Cleveland Browns. In fact, the Steelers have lost three straight Thursday night games with their last victory, which seems like a lifetime ago, coming on Nov. 8, 2018, when they downed the Carolina Panthers 52-21.

While their record is just below .500 on Thursday nights, the Steelers are far better at home than on the road with eight of their 11 wins coming as the host team. The Steelers’ opposition is in the same territory record-wise on Thursday nights. Since becoming the Titans in 1999, Tennesse owns a Thursday night record of 6-8, a winning percentage of .428, and is 2-5 as the road team.

Coming off of a short week is tough but with the Steelers’ success at home on Thursday nights, coupled with the Titans’ struggles on the road, the team should be feeling confident entering the game.

While most of the Steelers’ Thursday Night Football games have come since the rearrangement, the team did appear in five Thursday night games during the span of the 1980 season through the 1999 season. The Steelers’ record in those games was a measly 1-5 with their only win coming against the New York Jets in 1984.

The Steelers are scheduled to play another Thursday Night Football game in Week 14 against the New England Patriots.