Predicting power rankings in May is like trying to predict who all 32 picks would be in the first round of the NFL draft – there isn’t a lot of point to it. However, that didn’t deter ESPN from tryiing to do exactly that.
According to ESPN’s first Football Power Index of 2019, the Steelers came out as the 16th best team in the NFL.
This ESPN calculation projects Pittsburgh’s win total at 8.5 games, and gives them a mere 45.8 percent chance to make the playoffs this season.
The same formula gave the Cleveland Browns a 8.8 wins and a 51.5 percent chance of making the playoffs – giving them the best playoff odds in the AFC North.
The Baltimore Ravens came in nearly identical to Pittsburgh with a projected win total of 8.5 games and a 44.9 percent chance for the playoffs.
Cincinnati finished dead last among AFC North teams (as you may have expected) with just a projected 6.0 wins and a meager 7.8 percent chance to see the playoffs this year. The Bengals were ranked 29th out of 32 NFL teams in the power rankings.
It’s hard to put a lot of stock in an ESPN formula when we are not even close to training camp yet. The Steelers did lose Antonio Brown and offensive line coach, Mike Munchak this season, but were undoubtedly assisted by the additions of Devin Bush, Steven Nelson, Justin Layne, Diontae Johnson, and Donte Moncrief, among others.
It will be interesting to see how things play out in 2019. There’s a good chance it could be a three-team race between the Steelers, Browns, and Ravens for the division title.
I wouldn’t argue that Cleveland’s roster certainly looks more talented on paper than the rest of the AFC North teams. They have perhaps one of the best young quarterbacks in the league, and traded for one of the NFL’s premier wide receivers in Odell Beckham.
However, Bill Belichick knows as well as anyone that it takes more than a talented roster to make a great team. There are so many factors that go into success, and the Steelers are no strangers to winning.
The only thing we know for sure is that we won’t know until we get there.