No team has won the AFC North more often since its inception in 2002 than the Pittsburgh Steelers. No team in the NFL has won more division titles since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger, either.
The Steelers, though, are in the midst of a dry spell in that realm. That can change Saturday when a victory at the Baltimore Ravens (9-5) would give the Steelers (10-4) their first AFC North crown since 2020.
“We’re playing for a hat and a t-shirt after this one,” rookie linebacker Payton Wilson said. “So there’s a lot of weight on it.”
Only once since 1970 have the Steelers had a drought of more than three seasons without a division title — the final seven years of the Chuck Noll tenure from 1985-91.
That is likewise the only example of a run of at least six seasons in which the Steelers finished in first place only once. And even before 2024, the Steelers are in such a stretch. The 2020 covid season division championship marks the only time they have donned those commemorative hats and t-shirts since 2017.
“It’s one of the goals,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said of a division title, “but it’s not the ultimate goal.
“We talk about being a top team in the AFC, and to be a top team in the AFC you need to win the AFC North. … We want home games in January, and this is a step towards that.”
Under the NFL’s current playoff format, division winners each host at least one playoff game. Wild-card teams open up on the road and — very likely — would have to play away throughout however long their playoff run lasts.
The Steelers have lost five consecutive playoff games, including three straight on the road, and haven’t won a postseason contest since the end of the 2016 season.
Perhaps that advantage to be gained is why coach Mike Tomlin said during his opening remarks of his weekly news conference Monday, “We’ve got an opportunity to pursue a division championship this week, and so, man, we’re excited.”
The Steelers are seeking their 10th AFC North title; the Ravens their eighth. The Cincinnati Bengals have claimed the other six. The Bengals (6-8) and Cleveland Browns (3-11) are eliminated from division-title contention this season.
Baltimore has won three of the past six AFC North crowns. Since 2011, the Ravens have won the division five times with the Steelers and Bengals winning it four times each.
“We’re going to display our excitement (for the chance to win a division) by getting singularly focused on what it is that we need to do to prepare,” Tomlin said Monday, referencing the short week before a Saturday kickoff.
Even though since the start of 2020, the Ravens lead the Steelers in overall victories, 51-50, the Steelers have had a significant edge in head-to-head matchups. The Steelers are 8-1 against Baltimore over the past five seasons.
Before that stretch began, it was the Ravens who had won 17 of 29 in the regular-season series dating to late 2005.
During the Steelers’ run of eight wins in nine meetings the average margin of victory has been 3.8 points. None have been by more than seven points, which can make it feel as if the Steelers haven’t been as dominant in the series as they have been of late.
“Not at all,” Heyward said. “Each game is coming down to a couple plays. I don’t think we get ahead of ourselves in that approach – I think we understand every time we go up against them, we need to have our best game.”
The North remains the lone AFC division yet up for grabs. The Kansas City Chiefs (West), Buffalo Bills (North) and Houston Texans (South) each have already clinched repeating as division champions. If Baltimore would win the AFC North, it would be only the third time since the current alignment was defined in 2002 that all four AFC divisions would have repeat champions (joining 2018-19 and 2011-12). It has never happened in the NFC, and won’t this season.
The Steelers are seeking their 25th division title since 1970. The San Francisco 49ers have the second-most with 22.