In our first “Football Footnotes” post to open the 2023 NFL season, I hit a home run with my Pittsburgh Steelers predictions.

I said, “The Steelers will go 10-7 and make the playoffs as an AFC wild-card team.” They did exactly that.

I also predicted they’d lose their first-round game, which they did.

Beyond that, though, I had a few big swings and misses, a couple of foul balls, and the occasional bloop single over second base.

So I wasn’t the Pirates. But I wasn’t exactly the 1927 Yankees either.

This year, as unpredictable as the NFL can be, I’m just hoping to avoid becoming the Bad News Bears.

• The Steelers will go 9-8 and will miss the playoffs as the last team out of the AFC playoff bracket in Week 18.

As I wrote earlier in the week, I was holding out hope that the additions of Russell Wilson, Patrick Queen, Donte Jackson and a healthy Cameron Heyward would make the Steelers a slightly better version of the 10-7 team that squeaked into the playoffs as the seventh-seed last year.

For most of the offseason, that’s where my prediction sat — a carbon copy result from last year.

Now, seeing the state of the offensive line, the failure to replace Diontae Johnson and Wilson’s nagging calf problem, I have to walk that back at least a game.

It may wind up being more if Wilson never gets fully healthy.

• Steelers’ Najee Harris appreciates Arthur Smith’s offense, Cordarrelle Patterson’s vet presence • Steelers OC Arthur Smith not 'caught up' in return to Atlanta for Week 1 matchup • Tim Benz: No room for Steelers to overcome a typical sluggish start in 2024

• I’ve got the Ravens winning the AFC North at 11-6 by a game or a tie-breaker over the Cincinnati Bengals. If Lamar Jackson misses a few games and Joe Burrow stays healthy, this result will probably flip-flop.

Either way, the AFC North winner is going to be the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, and the second-place team will be the top wild card.

The Steelers will be third at 9-8, and the Cleveland Browns will be fourth at 8-9. The Steelers haven’t finished last in the AFC North/Central since 1988. I’m going to have to see that happen before I believe it.

Conversely, I never need to be convinced that the Browns will disappoint.

• The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans will all win their divisions with identical 12-5 records and with tie-breakers determining the top three seeds. I don’t expect the Bills to slip as much as many others are predicting.

Correspondingly, I’m not as high on the New York Jets making as much noise in that division as others are anticipating. The defense is good enough. But I’m not ready to assume Aaron Rodgers is really all the way back.

• The Bengals will be joined by the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars as the other two AFC Wild Card teams. A lot of people have given up on Jacksonville after having a disappointing 2023. But I expect Trevor Lawrence to bounce back somewhat. And, let’s remember, if they don’t bomb in Week 18 against the Tennessee Titans, they would’ve been 10-7 with a playoff berth.

That’s roughly what they will be this year.

• Back in March, I was ready to say that the San Francisco 49ers were going to walk through the NFC and get back to the Super Bowl. Given how chaotic their offseason was, I’m not going there anymore. I still expect them to win the NFC West, but they’ll get knocked out by either the Dallas Cowboys or Detroit Lions.

Those three teams will repeat as division champions. The Tampa Bay Bucs will win the South at 9-8. I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid on the Atlanta Falcons. They might beat the Steelers on Sunday, but I think they’re a bit overrated.

The Eagles, Packers and Bears (as a surprise team making a two-game jump to sneak into the playoffs) will end up as the NFC Wild Cards.

• I like the Cowboys to emerge from the NFC and (as much as I hate to say it) the Chiefs to beat them in the Super Bowl for a third-straight title.

We haven’t seen that happen in the NFL. We will this year.

Like it or not.

• I also predict Roger Goodell will stop messing around and just hand the trophy to Taylor Swift and skip Clark Hunt as the middleman.

• Oh, one more. After leading the Cowboys to the Super Bowl, Dak Prescott will hit free agency, tweet eyeball emojis at Mike Tomlin, and we will begin “Aiyuk — the sequel.”

• Prescott will stay in Dallas anyway, and Steelers fans will pretend they never wanted him in the first place and will be perfectly happy when Mason Rudolph comes back as the starter in 2025.

Or … something like that.

Listen: Tim Benz and Jeff Erickson of RotoWire discuss the first week of fantasy football.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)