With the release of the Pittsburgh Steelers entire 2022 schedule, fans can easily see that the AFC North games will be especially difficult for them to win.
Anyone with eyes can see that the AFC North will not be a particularly easy division to survive in 2022. However, things get really unpleasant when witnessing just how brutal its powers can look when spread out on a schedule like the one that the Steelers have.
First off, let’s just clarify that there is very little about Pittsburgh’s slate that isn’t jarring, with them set to face not one, not two, but five adversaries that saw the playoffs last year (not including the home-and-home series with Cincinnati).
Speaking of the Bengals, they are just the team you were thinking of that could give the Steelers a warm welcome to their 2022-23 run, right? Probably not, but that appears to be the case nonetheless.
On the off chance that visiting the defending AFC Champions in game one wasn’t tough enough of a task, the Steel City can rest assured that things will not get any easier.
Games two and three involve hosting the New England Patriots and taking a trip to Cleveland, meaning that a postseason rival will be the only foe to sit between a pair of divisional road trips. Terrific.
The bye week can’t even give Steelers a break
Later on, after several testing matchups with non-divisional opponents, the Steelers will encounter their bye week smack dab in the middle of the regular season. What two meetings is it placed between? An away game against the Eagles, and a home game against the Saints.
In other words, the sole bye week that Pittsburgh has will not only fail to rest them for any divisional matchups, but it won’t even rest them for any in the AFC altogether. That just might be the worst possible spot for that break to have been placed.
The rest of the divisional lineup is where things get the most troubling, though, mainly because of the games that surround them. This upsetting stretch starts with hosting the Bengals right after the Saints, an affair that precedes back-to-back visits to Indianapolis and Atlanta.
At this point in the schedule, the trek to play the Falcons is one of the bookends beside the first Ravens meet of the season, with yet another road game–this time in Carolina–being what awaits the Steelers on the other side.
As the regular season reaches its conclusion, Pittsburgh will host the Las Vegas Raiders (who were a playoff team last season and have only grown since then) before facing the Ravens in Baltimore and hosting the Browns in weeks 17 and 18. So while the Steelers may be better off than they were last season roster-wise, the same cannot be said when comparing their schedules.
The Steelers were a playoff team last season, despite being plagued by a worse roster and what was also a rather formidable path to the postseason. With that said, if they manage to sneak into the AFC bracket again, it will still be without any assistance from their schedule.