After a daunting first-half schedule during the 2022 season, the Steelers have a chance to get out of the woods with some potentially more favorable matchups in 2023. On January 10th, the NFL announced which opponents Pittsburgh will be facing in the upcoming NFL season, but what time of year they play their most difficult rivals could play a big factor.
Last year a 2-6 start made it remarkably difficult for the Steelers to even sniff the playoffs (though, by the end of the season, they would come much closer than most anticipated. Pittsburgh is looking for a stronger start this time around, so when can we expect the 2023 schedule to be released?
When does the Pittsburgh Steelers schedule get released?
The National Football League has not announced an official schedule release date. However, based on the past few years, we can expect the schedule to be released sometime around May 11th, 2023.
Since the pandemic, the NFL has put off the schedule release until roughly two weeks after the NFL Draft. April is busy enough, and in doing so, it allows another window of excitement at a time when the post-draft buzz has typically died down.
Last year, the schedule was released on May 12th. Our projection of May 11th would be a Thursday. We expected to come in somewhere in this ballpark.
Who will the Pittsburgh Steelers face in 2023?
While we don't yet know the order of the games, we do know which opponents the Pittsburgh Steelers will play and where each game will be played. Here's the full list of opponents for Pittsburgh in 2023:
Home: Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans
Away: Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks
We can expect the AFC North to be a challenge again in 2023. Last year, the Steelers went 3-3 in their own division (and that was with QB Lamar Jackson being absent for both matchups against the Ravens). While they do face a few daunting opponents, their schedule seems very manageable.
Outside of the Bengals, the San Francisco 49ers could give them the biggest run for their money. Likewise, the Jaguars are one of the fastest-rising teams. Fortunately, the road schedule looks very managable with winnable games against teams like the Texans, Colts, Raiders, and Chargers.