Entering the halfway point of the season, it probably wouldn't have been a shocker to predict that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be sitting on a 5-3 record. However, the manner in which they have been earning their wins is a bit surprising. Mike Tomlin's 2023 squad is the only team in NFL history to have a winning record by this point in the season despite being outgained by their opponent in every single game.
Based on the collection of their stats, it feels like the Steelers should be closer to a 3-5 team than a 5-3 unit. Regardless, they are firmly in a Wild Card spot in the AFC playoff picture. That can obviously change at a moment's notice -- especially considering that no team in the AFC North has a record worse than 5-3 right now (the Steelers, Bengals, and Browns are all tied).
What's wild is the current NFL Draft outlook for 2024. If the season were to end today as we get set to enter Week 10 of the 2023 season, here's where every NFL team would be picking next April, per Tankathon.com.
NFL Draft Order if season ended before Week 10:
1. Arizona Cardinals
2. Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
3. Chicago Bears
4. New York Giants
5. New England Patriots
6. Los Angeles Rams
7. Green Bay Packers
8. Tampa Bay Bucanneers
9. Denver Broncos
10. Tennessee Titans
11. Atlanta Falcons
12. Washington Commanders
13. Indianapolis Colts
14. Las Vegas Raiders
15. Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
16. New York Jets
17. Los Angeles Chargers
18. Buffalo Bills
19. New Orleans Saints
20. Minnesota Vikings
21. Dallas Cowboys
22. Pittsburgh Steelers
23. Houston Texans (via Browns)
24. Cincinnati Bengals
25. Seattle Seahawks
26. San Francisco 49ers
27. Miami Dolphins
28. Jacksonville Jaguars
29. Detroit Lions
30. Baltimore Ravens
31. Kansas City Chiefs
32. Philadelphia Eagles
The Arizona Cardinals might be wise not to play QB Kyler Murray for the rest of the season. At 1-8, they are already nearly eliminated from playoff contention in the NFC and they would probably have to win out at this point to make the tournament. They could look to reset the franchise with the top pick in the draft.
Meanwhile, Chicago has made some questionable trades over the past two years, but they are sitting pretty as they are currently on track to have the second and third overall picks next April. Unsurprisingly, the Eagles and Chiefs -- the two teams in the Super Bowl last year -- would own the final picks of the first round if the NFL season were to end today.
Steelers would own the 22nd overall pick if the season ended today
What is surprising, however, is that the Pittsburgh Steelers would actually be picking later in the draft than teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills if the season were to end prior to the start of Week 10. With 6 NFL teams tied with a 5-3 record at the moment, there's a solid chance that Pittsburgh will be on track to pick even later in the draft following the results on Sunday.
The collection of their statistics right now suggests that the Steelers aren't playing as well as their record would seem to indicate, but there's still time to turn things around. If they don't make significant improvements, there might not be much sense crushing their draft capital only to get humiliated in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.
A lot can change in the NFL Draft order in the coming weeks. The Steelers could either climb in the rankings or fall out of the playoff picture. They get their third straight home game this week -- this time against a suspect Green Bay Packers team.