Do the Steelers have a shot to win the AFC North or the Super Bowl?
What are the Pittsburgh Steelers odds to win it all this season? The current NFL team’s Super Bowl odds are very vague, and while the big game is a while away, we all want to know where we should start putting our money.
Oddsmakers currently have Pittsburgh having a down year. As of the time of writing, the Steelers Super Bowl odds are at +6000 to +5500. This is interesting, since the Steelers exceeded expectations last year, narrowly missing the postseason. Some of that can be attributed to injuries – namely T.J. Watt missing half of the season – as well as the transition from a future Hall of Fame quarterback to a rookie one.
Regardless, there are reasons the 2024 Steelers could be hopeful Super Bowl contenders.
Looking at the AFC North
Part of the reason the Steelers’ Super Bowl odds and futures in 2023-2024 are trending near the bottom is the usual bookies’ outlook within Pittsburgh’s own division. The Cincinnati Bengals have now won the division twice in a row, with back-to-back trips to the AFC Championship. Their presence alone makes it difficult to bump the odds up in the Steelers’ favor to win the AFC North.
Another obstacle is the Baltimore Ravens. Despite their success against him in the past, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is a former league MVP who gives his team a chance to win every Sunday. Without Lamar, however, the Ravens are a different animal – and one could argue they have their hurdles building a roster around a signal caller who has failed to finish each of the last two seasons due to injuries.
As for the Cleveland Browns, their future was mortgaged away trading draft picks and a large chunk of their salary cap for QB Deshaun Watson. Cleveland hopes their gamble for the maligned quarterback pays off more than his sub 60% completion rate with only 7 touchdowns to 5 interceptions in six games played last season.
That leaves the odds for the Steeler’s total wins at 8.5 (-110). Their playoffs odds are at +160, the AFC North odds at +650, the AFC winner odds at =4000, and the Super Bowl odds are +6000.
In other words, the Steelers are underdogs. But perhaps they shouldn’t be.
The Mike Tomlin factor
Say what you will – and naysayers will – but the Steelers are always in contention with Mike Tomlin as the head coach. Even in down seasons, the Steelers are never eliminated from playoff contention until the final week or two of the regular season, as he’s led his teams to at least a .500 record in every campaign since becoming head coach in 2007.
What Tomlin has been able to do, oftentimes with so little, is why you can never count the Steelers out. Labeling them an underdog is also good chalkboard material. The fact the Steelers went from a 2-6 record entering their Week 9 bye to finish 9-8 is nothing short of incredible.
Rebuilding in short time
However, that also falls on Tomlin’s navigation to transition from a franchise quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger to a below-the-line veteran in Mitchell Trubisky and over to the heir apparent, Kenny Pickett. Pickett is an important factor if the Steelers should gain any traction as a sleeper pick in NFL sports betting as he enters his second season in the league.
The Steelers don’t like to use the word “rebuild” but they did so while running in place, adding players such as Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth near the end of Big Ben’s tenure in order to help support the start of Pickett’s. Diontae Johnson returns along with the dynamic George Pickens, who should see a leap in year two.
While other pieces were added along the way to the skill positions, it’s the offensive line which has been rebuilt over the course of the last three offseasons to hopefully provide a major spark for Pickett and the offense. It started with adding players, but really took shape due to the additions of Mason Cole and James Daniels last year, and the acquisitions of Isaac Seumalo and first round pick Broderick Jones this offseason.
The “Pickett Fence” may have been a priority during free agency and the NFL Draft, but the defense also received a boost as well. Two new inside linebackers joined the team in free agency (Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb) while future Hall of Fame CB Patrick Peterson and rookie Joey Porter Jr. were added to the secondary. Second round pick Keeanu Benton also projects to receiving a lot of playing time as a nose tackle too, bolstering what was previously the league’s highest-paid defense with an infusion of youth and leadership.
Final Thoughts
In summation, the Steelers did a tremendous job shoring up their shortcomings under first-year general manager Omar Khan and his assistant Andy Weidl. Pairing their free agent pickups with what many consider to be one of the best draft classes coming out of last week’s event should help bolster Pittsburgh’s odds eventually.
Whether they can win their division or not has always been the question. Unlike the New England Patriots, who had perpetually bad competition with the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets over a long span of time, the Steelers have always faced stiffed division rivalries with the Bengals and Ravens, each of whom has traded AFC North crowns over the past decade with Pittsburgh.
Since 2010, all three of those teams have reached the Super Bowl at least once as well, raising the stake a little higher.
Of course, that leaves the Browns out of the conversation, but they too have desperately clung to revamping their teams over the years and play their division opponents competitively.
That should leave the AFC North battle up for debate, which means the Steelers being a Super Bowl contender is a tougher pill to swallow when looking around the conference. The Kansas City Chiefs are the current team to beat, so long as Patrick Mahomes is their quarterback.
The Buffalo Bills are a usual preseason favorite now too, with Aaron Rodgers having joined the New York Jets to potentially make them a contender this season – and Russell Wilson lingering in Denver should still be noted despite an off year.
That doesn’t include the various changes throughout the rest of the AFC, including the South division which now has a plethora of young passers chomping at the bit too.
Bundled together, you can see why the Steelers odds aren’t better, but for the faithful fan who believes in the team’s ability to always compete for a spot in the playoffs, it may be time to get your bet in while those odds are more favorable early in the year.
