The Pittsburgh Steelers officially released their schedule for the upcoming NFL season. Here’s everything you need to know about their matchups in 2020.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. The NFL Draft draws the most hype every offseason with the free agency period not far behind. However, when we get into the month of May, fans have another reason to be hyped about the upcoming season. The Pittsburgh Steelers schedule has officially been released, and there are some interesting details.
As planned, the NFL has Pittsburgh slated to play in five preseason games this year – the first being the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio against the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams have significant Hall of Fame inductees from the Class of 2020 who will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame this August.
Here’s a look when the Steelers will be playing each of their scheduled opponents in 2020:
Our 2020 season schedule has arrived!
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 7, 2020
More on our 2020 season schedule: https://t.co/Lvoi4eAf4a
📺: Schedule Release '20 | 8 pm on NFL Network pic.twitter.com/irnzHPwf3z
A difficult stretch against uncommon opponents to start the year
The Steelers have a stretch of games against uncommon opponents to kick off the regular season. They play in New York against the Giants then travel home to face the Broncos and Texans in back-to-back weeks. Following this, Pittsburgh plays at Tenessee, then ends their stretch of non-division games against the Eagles at home. This could be some tough sledding, and the Steelers aren’t exactly known for their hot start out of the gate.
Divisional games don’t start until Week 6
In years past, the Steelers would have divisional matchup as early as Week 1 of the regular season. This year is different. Pittsburgh’s first divisional matchup doesn’t occur until Week 6 when they face the Cleveland Browns at home. From their 3 of their next 6 games are against division rivals.
Steelers get a difficult task after the bye week
Pittsburgh is a historically bad team after bye weeks. Despite getting that much-needed time to cooperate, the Steelers typically emerge sluggish and sloppy. They can’t afford to do that this year. Pittsburgh travels to Texas to face the Cowboys in Week 9 following the bye. This will be an incredibly difficult task and perhaps their toughest game of the year.
The back half of the schedule gets a bit easier
Though they still have to face the Ravens and Bills in the second half of the season, their strength of schedule gets significantly easier (at least at this point). The Steelers get the Bengals twice, the Redskins at home, and a game against Cleveland to end the season. Though they have struggled in Jacksonville before, that is a very winnable game for Pittsburgh, and they could end up being favored at home against the Colts in Week 16.
The Steelers schedule isn’t particularly hard this year, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a lot of close games. Pittsburgh can ill afford to take any team lightly in a rapidly closing Super Bowl window. As of now, however, it’s not hard to see how Pittsburgh could be a team with a winning record in 2020 and earn a playoff spot this year.