3 games on the Pittsburgh Steelers schedule that will define their 2023 run

2. Pittsburgh Steelers vs New England Patriots

Pittsburgh’s battle with New England just might be the most telling of the three discussed today, as the Patriots are the only squad on this list that the Steelers faced last year.

The matchup was a low-scoring one, with the Steelers making things interesting late before falling just short in the 17-14 contest. In retrospect, the defeat summed up the first half of Pittsburgh’s season beautifully: mediocre.

Such a description fell predominantly on the quarterback situation and T.J. Watt’s sudden absence. But, with Kenny Pickett now being the undisputed starter at QB and Watt hopefully not suffering an injury like last year’s, neither of those problems should arise this next time around. Apart from those two, the only other one that could come into play is Pittsburgh’s previous struggles with the Pats.

Historically, New England has won 18 of its 34 meetings with Pittsburgh, giving the Patriots a slight edge (similar to Jacksonville’s). Not only that, but the Steelers are 1-7 in the last eight, meaning that they’ve only gotten one win in the rivalry since 2011. That’s not just being inferior, that’s being on an entirely different level.

Hopefully, the Steelers will be able to keep those dark times out of their minds. If they can, their chances of taking this game—and giving us one of our best frames of reference for showing how much they’ve improved—should be all the higher.