The Pittsburgh Steelers escaped with a win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 and, for the time being, are keeping pace with the 1-0 Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. While getting started with a win is never a bad thing, there is such a thing as an ugly win.
And in the NFL, Week 1 can often be a liar, so the Steelers will have to simply keep winning to make the doubters believe. With that said, there is a clear ceiling with this team, especially on offense. While the defense can realistically be one of the better units in the NFL, the limited ceiling of the offense could end up greatly limiting what Pittsburgh can do, especially late in the season.
With all of that in mind, let's predict the next three games on their schedule.
Predicting the Pittsburgh Steelers next 3 games following 1-0 start
Week 2 @ New England Patriots, 1:00 PM ET
Even after an ugly Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots enter this game with an advantage: they're at home and on extended rest, since they played all the way back on Wednesday the 9th. New England is also the better team - they have a clear advantage at QB, an improved offensive line, and enough competent talent on defense to limit Pittsburgh's offense.
While some may still believe the Patriots are pretenders given how easy their schedule was last year, coupled with their disastrous Week 1 showing, Patriots' QB Drake Maye owns a 102.2 passer rating at home and has completed over 70 percent of his passes.
The Patriots get right in this game and edge the Steelers.
Prediction: Patriots win 24-20 (1-1)
Week 3 vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 1:00 PM ET
Pittsburgh doesn't exactly get a break in Week 3. Cincinnati comes to Acrisure for Week 3, and the big thing with the Bengals this year is the overhauled defense. While their defense wasn't lighting the world on fire in Week 1, it'll only be a matter of time before that unit improves, as the personnel is significantly better than it's been in quite some time.
This is also a perfect example of why the Steelers are going to struggle against teams with explosive offenses. The Steelers simply don't have the personnel to hang with a team like the Bengals. Aaron Rodgers is a fine QB at this point in his career, but he's a lot closer to the 20th-best player at the position than the 10th-best.
What we'll see transpire in this game is the Bengals creating big plays through the air and the Steelers failing to follow suit. I am not sure this could be a game where a 20-17 result is realistic. Pittsburgh will try to keep this game from turning into a shootout, but the Bengals offense, as it's currently constructed, is one of the better overall units of the Joe Burrow era, as the offensive line is finally shaping up into a good unit, and the team also has three key playmakers to contain: Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Chase Brown.
The Steelers lose their second in a row.
Prediction: Bengals win 28-20 (1-2)
Week 4 @ Cleveland Browns, 8:15 PM ET (Thursday Night Football)
If there was ever a 'get right' game on the schedule, it's a short-week showdown against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. And even though this is still rather early in the season, I am not sure Deshaun Watson starts in this one, but whether it's Watson or Shedeur Sanders under center is irrelevant - both passers are below-average, backup-caliber players, at best.
The defense should feast against a remade Browns' offensive line, and the Steelers' offense really shouldn't have a problem getting into the end zone a few times. The Browns do have decent personnel on offense, but the personnel isn't nearly good enough to be thrown into the fire frequently due to the team's subpar offense.
The Steelers wear down the Browns on primetime and even up their record, getting to 2-2.
Prediction: Steelers win 24-13 (2-2)
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