NFL Power Rankings: 5 most slept-on teams for the 2024 NFL season

Pittsburgh Steelers

Sports books have the Steelers at an over/under of 8.5 wins this season and right now, the odds are favoring the under. If the Steelers win just eight games (or fewer) in 2024, it would be the first losing season in Mike Tomlin's tenure as head coach of this team.

I'm so torn on Pittsburgh because, on the one hand, why would you be so foolish to bet against Mike Tomlin and his unprecedented record of non-losing seasons? On the other hand, Father Time spares no one, including Russell Wilson. The Steelers likely view Wilson as a gift from the football gods, especially at the veteran minimum salary. After the quarterback play we've seen the last two years in Pittsburgh from Kenny Pickett, Wilson is going to look like an upgrade no matter what.

But that defense is still going to be the identity of the Steelers. They are going to have to carry this team and make sure Wilson has all the opportunities he can get as he takes a lot of sacks and has been a bit more prone to turnovers the last two seasons in Denver. My money is on the Steelers being better with Wilson at the helm, and this team was able to win 10 games last year. Even if they win only nine, I still think they are being slept on as a problem in the playoffs.

Indianapolis Colts

Maybe the Colts aren't being unanimously slept on, but I wonder if everyone is aware of how awesome this team is going to be if Anthony Richardson is able to play the entire season and plays as well as we saw early last year.

There are a lot of hypotheticals involved here, but the Colts won nine games with Gardner Minshew at the helm for most of the year. This team is athletic, they are talented, and Shane Steichen knows how to call a game offensively. They're fun to watch.

Everyone's talking about the Houston Texans in the AFC South right now, but I wonder if the conversation should shift a bit to the Indianapolis Colts. This Colts team is loaded on both sides of the ball and while they're imperfect (there's no such thing as a perfect roster) they have all the tools to be dangerous in that division and make a run in the AFC if they get hot late. They're going to be able to run the ball all day long.