Steelers: Schedule Analysis

The Steelers 2016 schedule has been made official and it’s time to break it down so we know what we’re up against.

The Steelers, as of a couple days ago, have been introduced to who, where, and when they’ll be playing in the upcoming 2016 season. Compared to past years it seems like a very acceptable schedule. If the Steelers defense improves and their offense maintains the Steelers should get to the playoffs without much hand-wringing. Let’s also make that conditional on injuries. Regardless, the schedule shouldn’t be an issue.

We’ll analyze four specific aspects of the 2016 schedule. First, the strength of the schedule as a whole. Second, but maybe most important to the Steeler Nation diaspora spread across this country, is a discussion of which games are going to be prime time contests. Third, we’ll talk about how mechanics of the schedule, like home/away games, bye week placement, Monday/Thursday games, etc.

The Steelers schedule can be found here at Steelers.com.

Strength of Schedule

The Steelers schedule appears relatively easy. Last year, the Steelers were handed the hardest schedule in the league. This year, their opponents winning percentage is .473. That’s certainly better than last year but it’s not as good as it may seem. That factors in two games against the 5-11 Ravens, who will likely perform better than that without so many injuries and with all the FA activity.

It also factors in teams like the Cowboys and Eagles who could possibly be much more effective than they were last year. But even with all that, it’s still pretty reasonable schedule for the Steelers. That’s not the best part though.

The best part is, as you skim the list of opponents, not one dynamite defense jumps out at you. The Jets had a good defense last year, but other than that, nobody is scary at all. The Steelers could, assuming injuries are limited, have a season that breaks records offensively.

Primetime

The Steelers are back in the good graces of whoever decides primetime games because they have 4 lined up for 2016. The first is the opening game at Washington. There should be plenty of Steeler fans in the crowd and plenty more at home who get to watch the Steelers kick the season off right. It’s also a Monday night game.

The next game is in week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs. This could be one of the toughest games on the schedule so the fact that it’s at home and on Sunday night makes it even more exciting. Fast forward to week 12 and the Steelers are playing the Colts on Thursday night. With how the Steelers beat up on their defense that should be fun.

Finally, last stop on the prime time train is Week 15, Bengals at Cincinnati. Should be fun … or an embarrassment to the whole league and football in general, you never know with the Bengals.

Schedule Mechanics

So this is kind of a miscellaneous category. To make it more organized we’ll break it into subcategories.

Home/Away – The way the Steelers home and away games break down leans toward favorable for the Steelers. First, their two toughest non-divisional opponents  (Pats and Chiefs) are each going to be home games. Second, we’re all aware of the Steelers difficulties with different time zones, but that won’t be a problem this year. Outside of Miami, all their away games are basically a couple hours drive from Pittsburgh.

The only real drawback is that their home games are kind of front loaded. So from week 11 to 15 the Steelers have 4 out of 5 games being away. That certainly isn’t ideal but their opponents during that stretch are not super intimidating so that should help mitigate that.

Monday/Thursday – I am personally of the belief that the placement of Monday and Thursday games are an underrated influence on a team’s eventual record. The reason is it gives teams more or less time to prepare physically and mentally for a team. So let’s consider how the Steelers look in that regard. They only have two Monday/Thursday games.

The Monday game is their first game. So although they’ll technically have an extra day for Washington, they’ll have all offseason so that shouldn’t make a difference in that game in that regard. But it does give them one less day to prepare for the Bengals. That games at home though and Burfict will still be suspended so it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Their Thursday game comes in week 12 against the Colts. It gives them less time to prepare obviously. But the game before is against the Browns, which shouldn’t be too tough, and the Colts aren’t particularly intimidating. What it does do is give the Steelers extra time to be at home during that tough road stretch to prepare for NY. That could help during that road stretch, a few extra days off the road before going back.

Bye Week – Finally, the bye week placement is pretty reasonable. I like a bye week to come as late in the season as possible since that’s when it’s presumably most needed. The Steelers get theirs in week 8. That’s a perfectly reasonable spot for it, certainly better than those useless week 4 byes.

It’s coming after the Patriots game, which could be a tough one certainly. It also comes before an away game at Baltimore. This will give the Steelers more time to rest and prepare for a divisional opponent in an away game. That’s certainly likable.

Conclusion

Next: Steelers officially cut ties with cornerback Cortez Allen

Based on this schedule it’s very likely the Steelers finish somewhere around 10-6 or 11-5. You can’t expect a perfect schedule but as far as the obstacles standing between Pittsburgh and that 7th ring, this schedule is not one of them.