The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2024 regular season, but before the real games begin, the team has to head to training camp back at Saint Vincent College in order to fine tune their skills. As we here at SCN prepare you for the start of camp, we give you a series called “30 Scenarios in 30 Days” which gives you a Steelers scenario every day leading up to the start of camp.

It is simple how it works. We provide you the scenario, reasons why it will or won’t happen, and then our prediction for what we think will take place.

Let’s get to the scenario…

Scenario: The Steelers will go above and beyond their win-loss prediction in 2024 (8.5 wins)

Why it will happen: Mike Tomlin is the head coach, and while others are not crazy about him getting a 3-year extension he is a really good coach. Say what you want about his non-losing season streak, but it speaks to him being able to bring even the not-so-great rosters he has coached and helped them remain relevant.

On top of the coaching, Tomlin also has one of the best rosters he has coached in several years. Some might say the last time he had a roster with this much talent, on both sides of the ball, was back in 2017 before Ryan Shazier’s tragic injury. I don’t know if I’ll go that far, but you can’t ignore the roster the front office and Omar Khan have put together. It puts pressure on Tomlin and company to succeed, but barring injury you can’t look back and say there was a lack of talent required to win 9 games.

The AFC North is a tough division, but the Steelers have learned to maneuver their way through the weeds of the division as well as anyone. Last year they were 5-1 in the division, and just a winning record in the AFC North will have them well on their way to winning 9 games, at the minimum.

Why it won’t happen: Injuries are always going to be a reason why a team would fall short of their projected win totals, but the Steelers’ brutal schedule is another reason why they might slip up and deliver Tomlin’s first losing season of his coaching tenure. While everyone wants to point to the back half stretch of the schedule, the front half can be plenty challenging as well. Throw in Cam Sutton’s likely suspension and now you have a glaring hole on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, getting everyone acclimated to Arthur Smith’s offense could take time, and could equate in early offensive struggles.

Starting fresh with new coaches and players, especially at the most important positions, can equate in a lot of growing pains for a team. Most are expecting a winning season and a playoff berth, but there are plenty of reasons to believe the team could also slip up and stumble their way to mediocrity. And when I say mediocrity I’m referring to only winning 8 games, or worse.

Prediction: The Steelers schedule is tough. There is no doubt about that, but I feel this roster is built to withstand the barrage of their 18-game regular season slate of games. There is only one thing which can derail this season, in my opinion, and it’s injury. Injuries to any players like T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick and George Pickens could be a death knell for the team.

Assuming injuries don’t devastate the team, I’m going to say the Steelers win 10 games this season, make the playoffs, and make those who took the OVER of 8.5 wins look like geniuses. Could I be wrong? I’ve been wrong plenty in my life, but in this specific scenario I’m going to go with the Steelers doing enough to surpass to expectations the sportsbooks have placed on them in 2024.

Miss a scenario? You can see the full list of scenarios below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp.