Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers fans love to laugh at the hapless Cleveland Browns franchise, and according to FanDuel Sportsbook’s current NFL odds, the Brownies are +3100 to win the AFC North.
Compare that to the Steelers’ AFC North odds at +550.
The previous two decades no doubt play a gargantuan role in this odds discrepancy. The Browns can’t get out of their own way as an organization, making disastrous personnel decisions year after year.
The Steelers, led by Mike Tomlin, have somehow qualified for the playoffs for two straight seasons despite mediocre offensive and defensive play.
But are the 2025 Steelers that much better than the 2025 Cleveland Browns?
Right now.
Aaron Rodgers may change that.
You can laugh all you want. The Browns traded for former Steelers QB Kenny Pickett and drafted Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. But it’s not a bad strategy to stockpile potential at the most crucial position in football.
If you can recall, Pickett was a Heisman finalist and quarterbacked one of the most prolific NCAA offenses in 2021. Gabriel led the Oregon Ducks to the CFP Semifinals in 2024, throwing for 3,857 yards and 30 TDs. Sanders was a projected first-round pick that the Browns picked up in the sixth round.
The Browns also signed veteran Joe Flacco as an insurance policy.
Compare that room to the Steelers.
Mason Rudolph, the current projected starter, has only thrown for over 300 yards in a game once in his career. Skylar Thompson is a career backup who’s only thrown for 721 yards over three seasons. **Will Howard **is a late-round draft pick with potential, but still a project.
TJ Watt wasn’t his usual dominant self during much of the 2024 season. And now that he’s on the wrong side of 30, I don’t know if he ever will be again.
Watt’s 11.5 sack total represents a significant regression from his 2021 career high of 22. Worse than that, Watt’s impact was negligible during the second half of the 2024 season. He was held sackless in the season’s final three games and recorded no tackles, assists, or sacks in the Wild Card Round.
The Steelers’ run defense was statistically better in 2024 than in 2023, allowing an average of 109.8 yards per game. However, the stats don’t tell the whole story. The Baltimore Ravens’ running attack eviscerated the Steelers’ run defense in the Wild Card game, gaining 299 rushing yards.
Cleveland’s defense, led by the returning Myles Garrett, surrendered an average of 129.7 rushing yards per game in 2024. The unit also surrendered 25.6 points per game, a total too high for their dreadful offense to overcome.
Steelers fans rejoiced after GM Omar Khan traded for star WR DK Metcalf. Finally, the Steelers plugged the gaping hole in their offense.
The rejoicing was short-lived, however, as Khan traded away the talented but troubled George Pickens to...
