Steelers schedule: Thanksgiving vs. Ravens, 2 prime-time December games

For the third time in eight years, Thanksgiving desserts across Western Pennsylvania will involve a heavy helping of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers are scheduled to host the rival Baltimore Ravens in a prime-time game Nov. 26, one of the highlights of their 2020 schedule revealed Thursday night.

“We just are humbled and honored to entertain our fans on a special day like that,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said on the NFL Network during its schedule release special. “We’ve had an opportunity to be in a number of (holiday) games over the years. We don’t take them for granted, and we’ll be excited about this one.”

The Steelers played at Baltimore on Thanksgiving night in 2013, which was infamous for a controversy that ensued after Tomlin appeared to trip the Ravens’ Jacoby Jones, preventing a possible touchdown on a kick return. The Steelers lost that game 22-20, but they won at the Indianapolis Colts, 28-7, on Thanksgiving night 2016.

The Thanksgiving game is one of four scheduled for prime time for the Steelers. They open the regular season at the New York Giants on the “Monday Night Football” season premiere Sept. 14. Their other three scheduled night games come in over a four-week span starting on Thanksgiving. They visit the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night in Week 14, and the following week is a Monday night game at the Cincinnati Bengals.

Of course, the entire schedule comes with the massive question mark about whether the games will be played at all in light of the coronavirus pandemic. It also is possible games could be played without fans or at alternate sites.

The Steelers’ schedule — on paper — isn’t overly difficult.

In addition to the annual home-and-aways with their three AFC North rivals, the rotational system the NFL uses for interdivisional games goes by division. This season, the Steelers get the NFC East and AFC South.

By aggregate winning percentage of opponents’ 2019 seasons, the Steelers have the second-easiest schedule in 2020. Teams scheduled to face the Steelers this fall had a combined winning percentage of .457 last season.

#Steelers have the NFL’s second-easiest schedule in 2020, according to one calculation https://t.co/KHwaOBSrqM

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) February 19, 2020

But some analysts have broken down schedule strength using projected 2020 win totals based off of futures set by sportsbooks. According to CBS Sports, which used William Hill as its baseline, the Steelers tie for the eighth-easiest schedule.

Other notable games for the Steelers are a rare trip to play three-time Super Bowl foe Dallas — their second since 2004 — with a 4:25 p.m. kickoff Nov. 8. That follows the Steelers’ bye week, which comes after a game at the Ravens on Oct. 25.

After the opener against the Giants, the Steelers play four of their next five at home: the Denver Broncos for the Sept. 20 home opener, the Texans, and 1 p.m. kickoffs in Weeks 5 and 6 against the Eagles and Browns, respectively. The lone road game in that time is at the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 4.

The Oct. 18 scheduled game at Heinz Field will be the first against the Browns’ Myles Garrett since he struck Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with his own helmet last season.

Tom Brady’s first game of any sort for somebody other than the New England Patriots in 21 years is scheduled to be @heinzfieldhttps://t.co/9MZRTUIFj3

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) May 8, 2020

The opener against the Giants is scheduled to be Ben Roethlisberger’s first game since he underwent elbow surgery after playing just 2½ games last season. Tomlin said Thursday the Steelers are “extremely confident in his readiness” to be ready for that game.

One nitpick? For the second consecutive season, the Steelers are scheduled to play three of their final four on the road.

Not that Tomlin was complaining.

“I haven’t seen a schedule that I didn’t like, particularly at this time of the year,” he said on NFL Network. “We’re all football lovers and we miss competing, so it’s an exciting day when the schedule comes out.”

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