What is the floor and ceiling for Steelers record in 2022?

Floor: Steelers go 4-13

To imagine the Steelers looking that horrendous in their first season without Roethlisberger isn’t exceptionally assuring, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less possible. To put things simply, 4-13 is the record (give or take) that Pittsburgh could find itself stuck with by the end of the season if all of the go-either-way games, quite frankly, don’t go their way.

Such games are against the following opponents: New England, Tampa Bay, Miami, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Baltimore (Steelers hosting), and Carolina in that order.

Foes like these can be difficult to read for a multitude of reasons, such as their aforementioned placement on the schedule, where their meetings with Pittsburgh are being played, and the overall state of their competitiveness today. But one shining light at the end of this tunnel would be that all but one of them stand outside of divisional play.

In this scenario, the only AFC North opponent that the Steelers would manage to beat are the Cleveland Browns, and even that is primarily due to the latter’s ongoing quarterback dilemma. Beyond that, the last of their scarce victories would most likely come against the New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons—names that currently hold very little meaning in a team’s win column.

If a showing as ungodly as this one were to actually be witnessed this Fall, it would result in Pittsburgh having its lowest win count in a season since 1969—Chuck Noll’s first season with the team (1-13). If that doesn’t make a point of this being the absolute worst that the Steelers could do, I don’t know what would.