20. Pittsburgh Steelers: 6 wins, mid-season QB benching
The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be one of the most fascinating teams in the NFL in 2024. I have said this before in the 2024 offseason, but it’s worth repeating:
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a picture of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.
The unstoppable force is Mike Tomlin’s incredible run of non-losing seasons. The immovable object is Father Time, which has seemingly come for quarterback Russell Wilson. Which one will win out? Could this actually be the first losing season for Mike Tomlin? The Steelers view Wilson as a godsend after what they’ve witnessed at quarterback the last couple of years with Kenny Pickett. In reality, Wilson was cut by the Denver Broncos with $85 million in dead cap for a variety of legitimate reasons.
The worst possible scenario for the Steelers is another wasted year of a great defense, a losing record, and a QB change at mid-season.
19. New Orleans Saints: 6 wins, mid-season QB benching
Similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s not difficult to see a scenario for the New Orleans Saints that involves a mid-season quarterback change and a highly disappointing losing record in the midst of it all. The worst thing that could possibly happen to the New Orleans Saints this season is to have to bench Derek Carr due to performance reasons.
The Saints were pretty strong all throughout last season in most statistical metrics, but why did this team miss the playoffs? They went on a nice run at the end of last year against some bad teams, but they can’t rely on having that kind of stretch on the schedule every year when they are playing against teams with backup-level QBs (or worse).