2019 Pittsburgh Steelers season prediction

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 schedule is out, and with five prime time games, plenty of national attention and much to prove, here’s how their season should look.

A few weeks ago, when we finally started to grasp the idea that both Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown would no longer be part of the 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers, I wrote about what this season would look like.

Initially, I had a record prediction of 8-8. I was down on the direction of where the team was headed. However, I didn’t think about the theory of addition by subtraction and I underestimated the “Us against the world” mentality that this team would have.

After seeing the quotes come out the past week or so, from Ramon Foster and then from Ben Roethlisberger, I have a better feeling about this team.

Yes, it’s true that the offense will not have as much talent as they have in recent years. And yes, it’s also true that the division may have been flipped on its head with the recent moves by the Cleveland Browns.

But there are some good things that have come out of this drama filled off-season. First, there SHOULDN’T be as many, or any, distractions this year within the locker room. The high-profile-look-at-me-get-my-stats players are gone.

Second, the aforementioned ‘us vs the world’ mentality tends to bring teams closer.

Third, I am a firm believer that the Browns will not be as good as everyone thinks. There are too many egos within that locker room for it to work. At the first sign of adversity, they will crumble.

With all that being said…

2019 Pittsburgh Steelers: 11-5, AFC North Champions.

Week 1: September 8th at New England: Loss (0-1). Banner raising night for the Patriots and the Steelers have always struggled at Foxboro vs Brady/Belichick.

Week 2: September 15th vs Seattle: Win (1-1). Seahawks have been slow starters in recent seasons, starting out 0-2 or 1-2 in three out of the last four years.

Week 3: September 22nd at San Francisco: Loss (1-2). The west coast has not been kind to the Steelers and to add onto it, this is the 49ers home opener.

Week 4: September 30th vs Cincinnati: Win (2-2). Steelers tend to play great at home in primetime games. Andy Dalton does not play great in primetime games.

Week 5: October 6th vs Baltimore: Win (3-2). Field goal game. I like the home team.

Week 6: October 13th at LA Chargers: Win (4-2). Do the Chargers have a home field? Either way, I see the Steelers, as an underdog, pulling out a close one here.

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: October 28th vs Miami: Win (5-2). Another Primetime game at home vs a lesser opponent.

Week 9: November 3rd vs Indianapolis: Loss (5-3). Indianapolis will be a top 2 seed this year and will present a tough matchup for Pittsburgh.

Week 10: November 10th vs LA Rams: Win (6-3). Weather may start turning in mid-November, which gives the edge to Pittsburgh.

Week 11: November 14th at Cleveland: Loss (6-4). Short week and it will be on the road. Thursday games are always tough to predict, but I’ll give the edge to the home team.

Week 12: November 24th at Cincinnati: Win (7-4). After having 10 days off, the Steelers will be rested. Roethlisberger has dominated the Bengals in Cincinnati. Look for that to continue.

Week 13: December 1st vs Cleveland: Win (8-4). Seeing the same team twice in 3 weeks? This could be a toss-up game again, but, again, I’ll give the edge to the home team.

Week 14: December 8th at Arizona: Win (9-4). Unsure of who the Cardinals QB will be. Arizona will probably be positioning itself for 2020.

Week 15: December 15th vs Buffalo: Win (10-4). I like the home team in this one.

Week 16: December 22nd at NY Jets: Win (11-4). Late in the season means Lev Bell will miss with an injury. I wouldn’t bank on the Jets best player to be available which means advantage Steelers.

Week 17: December 29th at Baltimore: Loss (11-5). The division and playoff seeding will be decided. Steelers are resting their starters for the playoffs while Baltimore is fighting for a spot.

Draft season is upon us, so let’s see what the Steelers will do to improve. Our guys at Still Curtain have done a fantastic job with draft profiles, so no matter whom the Steelers select, you can come here to get all the background info on the next great Steeler.

After the draft process and rookie free agents are signed, we can go through this record prediction again. What are your thoughts? Are you as optimistic as me? #HereWeGo