Will Steelers Suffer 'Decline?' Expert Explains Dubious Top 5 List

As the Pittsburgh Steelers are set to wrap their preseason Saturday afternoon on the road facing the Detroit Lions , plenty of questions remain to be answered. Who will be the starting quarterback? Do the Steelers have the playmakers surrounding their quarterback to improve their offense? Can the defense continue to play at a high level?

Many Steelers fans may know the answers to these questions and believe they are on the path to making the playoffs again this coming season. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell is more skeptical of the Steelers' outlook this season. The ESPN analyst went as far as to say the Steelers are one of the “most likely” teams to “decline” this season.

"Had the Steelers upgraded at quarterback this season, they would have had a stronger case for improving their underlying level of play. I'm not sure Fields and Wilson qualify,” Barnwell writes.

“Pittsburgh traded Diontae Johnson and didn't really replace him with a starting-caliber receiver,” Barnwell continues. “Their best case for improvement on offense is the arrival of coordinator Arthur Smith and the upgrades they've made on the offensive line, where they used two much-needed draft picks on Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier.”

But while Barnwell has the Steelers on this dreaded list, he does note that he doesn’t see a “materially significant difference” between this year’s team and the ones of the recent past. While he does not specifically state what he believes the Steelers' record could be, it can be assumed he sees them at the very least missing out on the playoffs.

While yes, missing out on the playoffs would certainly be a decline from last season, it wouldn’t qualify as a “significant difference.” Since 2016, their last postseason win, the Steelers have missed out on the playoffs three times. The most recent came in 2022, when they finished 9-8.

Considering the Steelers’ schedule, which is ranked as the third-toughest in the league this coming season, combined with their questions and preseason concerns offensively, them missing out on the playoffs again doesn’t seem like a far-fetched possibility.

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If the Steelers first-team offense fails to score points in two preseason games and continues its struggles in the regular season, then missing the playoffs seems like a certainty.

However, like last season, the Steelers may not need a high-scoring offense to make the playoffs. As Barnwell notes, their defense could again "carry" them. Yet, to his point, that method of success seems destined for failure at some point.