Our fearless editor here at the Steel Curtain Network, Jeff Hartman, penned an interesting article over the weekend asking if the Steelers are one player away from being a legitimate NFL contender. The consensus from those who commented on that article was that they are not, that the path to true contention is steeper than the addition of one individual. Perhaps that consensus would change if the Chiefs decided to hand Patrick Mahomes to the Steelers for, say, Pressley Harvin and a 30% stake in the Primanti Brothers franchise. Short of that, there is work to be done.

I agree with that consensus. However, I do feel the Steelers are closer to legitimate contention than many suspect. The path is indeed steep, and the steps the Steelers must take to navigate it are tricky. But it’s a manageable task, and one I believe is attainable this off-season.

Before we look at what must be done to get there, let’s consider how far off the Steelers actually are.

The two teams who most impressed me most in the divisional round of the playoffs were the Green Bay Packers, who should have upset the 49ers in San Francisco, and the Baltimore Ravens, who dominated the upstart Houston Texans. The Steelers went a combined 3-0 against those teams this season. While a third of those victories came against the Ravens JV squad in Week 18, the first two were solid wins against their best players with both Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson playing quarterback.

There were other wins this season that were encouraging. A road win in Las Vegas, which isn’t overly impressive on the surface until you consider Pittsburgh’s woeful history against the Raiders. A similarly impressive road win in Seattle against a Seahawks team fighting for its playoff life. And a 24-17 win in Los Angeles against a Rams team who made the playoffs and nearly knocked off the Lions. Entering the season, Pittsburgh had gone 3-9 west of the Rocky Mountains since 2012. Three west coast wins in one season is remarkable by comparison.

There were bad losses, of course. The 49ers dominated Pittsburgh in a 30-7 opening-day shellacking. And the three game losing streak that saw the team fall from 7-4 to 7-7, which included home losses to then-two-win teams in Arizona and New England followed by a miserable no-show performance at Indianapolis, represented the season’s low point. I’m not offering excuses for any of those losses — the San Francisco game was a downright dismantling of the Steelers — but the mid-season losing streak hinged on the decision to replace an injured Kenny Pickett with Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback. Pittsburgh went 0-4 in games where Trubisky either started or played more than half of the contest. In games where Pickett or Mason Rudolph were the primary quarterback, the team went 10-4. You can’t blame all of the team’s woes on Trubisky, and the coaching staff bears much of the blame for deciding to start him over Rudolph. But it’s clear the Steelers were significantly better without him.

Elsewhere, Pittsburgh has a promising core on offense. The Steelers were one of the youngest units in the league, with just one starter, left guard Isaac Seumalo, over the age of 27. Their primary skill players have star potential and are all on their rookie contracts. The line needs upgrades at center and left tackle but has a veteran stalwart in Seumalo, a solid starter in James Daniels and a budding star in Broderick Jones. As a whole, the offense performed poorly, averaging just 17.9 points per game. They showed signs of immaturity and lacked an identity. They replaced their coordinator at mid-season and failed to develop Pickett. And yet the Steelers still won 10 games and were competitive in their playoff loss at Buffalo. Improvement from the offense seems inevitable, and should yield better results overall.

Defensively, the Steelers suffered about as many injuries to key players as could be imagined. Injuries are inevitable, and all teams must fight through them. But that bug bit Pittsburgh particularly hard. The linebacking and safety corps were decimated, with players like Mykal Walker, Eric Rowe and Myles Jack being plucked off of their couches to command important roles as one starter after another went down. Minkah Fitzpatrick played in just 11 games. Cam Heyward was banged up for much of the season. So was Larry Ogunjobi. T.J. Watt missed the playoff game. And yet, as a unit, the defense somehow finished sixth in points allowed, sixth in opponent completion percentage, eighth in takeaways, 10th in sacks and 10th in quarterback rating against. There will no doubt be injuries again next season. But the odds of so many significant ones to key players seems slim.

Another factor working in Pittsburgh’s favor is their penchant for adding immediate contributors in the draft. Last season, under the new front office regime of Omar Khan and Andy Weidl, the Steelers landed near-immediate starters with their first two picks in Jones and Joey Porter Jr. and added rotational pieces in Keanu Benton, Darnell Washington and Nick Herbig. Benton, Washington and Herbig should all see their roles and their production increase next year, while 7th Round draft pick Cory Trice is expected to contribute after losing his rookie season to injury. The Steelers could address any number of areas in this year’s draft — offensive and defensive line, linebacker, corner, wide receiver. History suggests they’ll find good players.

In free agency, the Khan/Weidl regime added Seumalo, Allen Robinson, Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts last year, all of whom were valuable contributors. Pittsburgh will have to release some veterans and restructure some contracts to give them workable cap space this off-season, but Khan has a history of making that happen. Meanwhile, on their end, the Steelers have no free agents they cannot afford to part with. So, if they can solidify their depth on the defensive line while finding a solid offensive tackle, it will be another successful free agency period.

From that perspective, things look optimistic. The Steelers went 10-7 despite a subpar offense, being decimated by injury on defense and losing a couple of clunkers after betting wrong on Trubisky. There is plenty of room for improvement, and if they can make it, they shouldn’t be far off from the major contenders in the AFC.

Buffalo, for example, has one of the league’s oldest defenses and is hamstrung by Josh Allen’s massive contract from making major upgrades. Allen still gives them a legitimate shot, but they could see their championship window beginning to close.

Baltimore looks great and has gone 42-18 against all NFL teams but the Steelers since 2019. Against the Steelers, they’ve gone 1-7. Pittsburgh knows how to beat the Ravens, no matter what the situation.

Kansas City remains the class of the conference but they aren’t devoid of issues. Travis Kelce may retire after the season and the Chiefs don’t have the talent at the skill positions they once did. I’m not naive in thinking the Steelers will be on Kansas City’s level next year. But the Chiefs are coming back to the pack in the AFC, not pulling away from it.

Elsewhere, there are good, young squads in the conference in Miami, Houston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Jacksonville and Indianapolis. It would be hard to argue that any of those teams are substantially better than Pittsburgh, however. The one area where everyone has the Steelers beat, and where the Steelers must improve significantly if they want to truly contend, is the combination of quarterback and offensive coordinator. No article about the 2024 Steelers can be taken seriously if it does not address how important that improvement is. This is the test the Steelers must ace this off-season. Can they find a coordinator who can modernize the team’s passing attack, help Kenny Pickett take the next step in his evolution and create an offense that can score enough points to give them a puncher’s chance against the heavyweights of the conference come playoff time?

Much will be written on this subject over the coming months. I’ll certainly weigh in with my thoughts on what must be improved, specifically, and which candidates might provide the best chance to make it. For now, I’ll conclude by saying I believe the possibility exists, and if Pittsburgh can pull it off they will be right there with the best teams in the conference. They’re not one player away from contending. But the steps they need to take to become a true contender are well within their reach.