The Steelers are in a tough spot this upcoming season, but they almost might go overlooked by national media again.
Pittsburgh went 10-7 last season and earned a wild-card spot, but it fell short to the Buffalo Bills in the postseason. It still was a successful season for Mike Tomlin as the Steelers remain competitive under his tenure. That will be important in the AFC North as it projects to be one of the toughest divisions in the NFL.
The Baltimore Ravens finished as conference finalists. The Cleveland Browns made the playoffs with a past-his-prime Joe Flacco, and the Cincinnati Bengals will get a healthy Joe Burrow. However, the market is still counting out the Steelers.
Pittsburgh is 50-1 to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel Sportsbook, and 25-1 to win the AFC crown. Those odds place it as the 11th-best team in the conference. The Steelers also are projected to finish last in the AFC North with +750 odds to win the division. They are +186 to make the playoffs and over 8 1/2 wins is set at +122.
Those odds indicate the market believes last season was a mirage, and the Steelers will be mediocre. Quarterback play is the biggest factor that will prove right or wrong. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields will compete for the starting job, and whoever wins only needs to be competent to support a top-10 defense with T.J. Watt back healthy and a potential breakout from Joey Porter Jr. The offense finished 15th in DVOA last season, so it just needs to be above average to compete for a playoff spot among teams who also have multiple questions surrounding them.
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The offseason would be the right time to buy-low on the Steelers before they potentially surprise the league as they seemingly do routinely every season.
Featured image via Mark Konezny/USA TODAY Sports Images