Steelers open 2023 season at home against San Francisco, close it in Baltimore

For the first time in nine seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers will open the regular season at home, and they will do so against one of the top teams from the NFC.

The Steelers will kick off the 2023 season against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 10, at 1 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium. The last time the Steelers opened at home was 2014.

The 49ers are coming off an appearance in the NFC championship game after going 13-4 in the regular season. The Steelers, who finished 9-8 last year, haven’t opened the season against San Francisco since 1993, Bill Cowher’s second season as coach.

In another first, the Steelers are scheduled to play a pair of Thursday night games this season, with both being held at Acrisure Stadium. The first is Nov. 2 against Tennessee, and the other is Dec. 7 against New England.

This is the first year the NFL relaxed the rules on Thursday games, permitting teams to play more than once on that day.

“We embrace whatever challenges come our way,” general manager Omar Khan told the team’s web site. “When you have a Thursday night game, the advantages are, No. 1, you get a couple of extra days to recover on the back end, and, No. 2, it’s always nice to be the one show on TV that night.”

Those games are part of four the Steelers are scheduled to play in prime time.

The Steelers play their first two games at home, following the opener with a game Monday night, Sept. 18, against the Cleveland Browns at 8:15 p.m. The first road game for the Steelers is a prime-time showcase Sunday, Sept. 24, when they make their first trip to Las Vegas to face the Raiders.

The season will conclude in January with the Steelers traveling to Baltimore to face the Ravens. It continues a trend of the Steelers ending an odd-numbered season in the Charm City. They also finished the 2021 and 2019 regular seasons at Baltimore.

Similar to the start of the season when they have back-to-back home games, the Steelers will finish with two on the road, playing Dec. 31 at Seattle before they close the season at Baltimore.

The longest stretch of home games is three in a row: Oct. 29 vs. Jacksonville, Nov. 2 against Tennessee (a Thursday night game) and Nov. 12 against Green Bay.

The Steelers play three sets of back-to-back road games, including division opponents Cleveland and Cincinnati in November. The Steelers play the Bengals twice in a five-week span.

The Steelers finish with three of their final four on the road.

“Hopefully, we’re in the playoff hunt at that point as we’re getting into that,” Khan told Steelers.com. “In the playoffs, you’re not always getting the opportunity to play at home, so it will be an opportunity to learn from the experience of playing on the road at the end of the season.”

Because they have nine home games this season, the Steelers will play just one of their three preseason games at Acrisure Stadium.

The Steelers open preseason play Friday, Aug. 11, at Tampa Bay. They return home Saturday, Aug. 19, to play Buffalo. They conclude the preseason with a game at Atlanta. The date and time of that game haven’t been determined.

A look at the 2023 regular-season schedule:

Week 1: Sept. 10, vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.

Week 2: Sept. 18, vs. Cleveland, 8:15 p.m.

Week 3: Sept. 24, at Las Vegas, 8:20 p.m.

Week 4: Oct. 1, at Houston, 1 p.m.

Week 5: Oct. 8, vs. Baltimore, 1 p.m.

Week 6: Oct. 15, BYE

Week 7: Oct. 22, at Los Angeles Rams, 4:05 p.m.

Week 8: Oct. 29, vs. Jacksonville, 1 p.m.

Week 9: Nov. 2, vs. Tennessee, 8:15 p.m.

Week 10: Nov. 12, vs. Green Bay, 1 p.m.

Week 11: Nov. 19, at Cleveland, 1 p.m.

Week 12: Nov. 26, at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.

Week 13: Dec. 3, vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.

Week 14: Dec. 7, vs. New England, 8:15 p.m.

Week 15, at Indianapolis, TBD

Week 16: Dec. 23, vs. Cincinnati, 4:25 p.m.

Week 17: Dec. 31, at Seattle, 4:05 p.m.

Week 18: at Baltimore, TBD