The Steelers officially announced their schedule for the 2024 season along with the rest of the NFL on Wednesday night.
There are several takeaways from Pittsburgh’s 2024 slate of games, but none may be bigger than the history the team is set to make heading into the final two months of the season.
The Steelers do not play an AFC North opponent until Sunday, Nov. 17 in a Week 11 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. It is the latest they have faced a division opponent for the first time since the 1970 merger, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.
Six of Pittsburgh’s final eight games are within the AFC North. An away game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15 and a Christmas Day home matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17 are the only non-divisional games during the stretch.
Some may view the Steelers’ final stretch of games as a very difficult task, and rightfully so after the AFC North clearly separated itself as the toughest division in the league last season.
However, Pittsburgh has held its own in the division as of late. Last season, the Steelers went 5-1 in the AFC North with their only loss coming at the hands of the Cleveland Browns and 16-8 since 2020.
That doesn’t mean history is going to repeat itself in 2024, but head coach Mike Tomlin seems to always have Pittsburgh in the playoff conversation at the end of the year.
If the Steelers need to finish with a similar record in their division to make the postseason this season, who’s to argue they won’t get it done once again?
President and CEO Art Rooney II certainly isn’t, although it will be quite a unique finish to the year.
“They are bunched together,” Rooney II said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “That’s going to be quite a stretch and be a meaningful stretch of games, for sure. It’s kind of unusual. I’m not sure I remember having one like this where we don’t play any division games until that late in the season.”