The Pittsburgh Steelers' schedule for 2020 was released Thursday.
The 2020 NFL season will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 10 with the Houston Texans visiting the Kansas City Chiefs (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). ESPN will have a Monday Night Football doubleheader on Sept. 14 featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers at the New York Giants (7:10 p.m. ET) and Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos (10:20 p.m. ET).
Check out the full week-by-week schedule here. Here’s what is in store for the Steelers:
Game-by-game prediction
Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor is predicting a 9-7 finish:
Sept. 14: at NY Giants, Win
Sept: 20: vs. Denver, Win
Sept. 27: vs. Houston, Win
Oct. 4: at Tennessee, Loss
Oct. 11: vs. Philadelphia, Win
Oct. 18: vs. Cleveland, Win
Oct. 25: vs. Baltimore, Loss
Nov. 1: Bye
Nov. 8: at Dallas, Loss
Nov. 15: vs. Cincinnati, Win
Nov. 22: at Jacksonville, Win
Nov. 26: vs. Baltimore, Loss
Dec. 6: vs. Washington, Win
Dec. 13: at Buffalo, Loss
Dec. 21: at Cincinnati, Win
Dec. 27: vs. Indianapolis, Loss
Jan. 3: at Cleveland, Loss
Strength of schedule: Second, .457
Breakdown
The Steelers start off with a bang on Monday Night Football against the Giants for Ben Roethlisberger’s return and Joe Judge’s debut as New York's head coach. A week later, Roethlisberger will make his Heinz Field return on Sept. 20, almost a year after his 2019 season ended with an elbow injury. The Steelers have four prime-time games out of a maximum of five, with the last one coming on Monday Night Football against the Bengals on Dec. 21. Of the remaining games, 11 are 1 p.m. ET kickoffs, including the Week 3 Watt Bowl against the Texans. The Steelers don’t have any West Coast trips and don’t travel any farther than Dallas all season. The most difficult stretch falls at the end of their schedule with two of the Steelers’ final four games on the road in Cincinnati and Buffalo, both night games, followed by home games against the Colts and the Browns. It will be a cold, potentially difficult finish after an otherwise easy schedule.
Garrett grudge match
The last time the Steelers faced the Browns, tensions were high after the brawl just a few weeks earlier. Players involved in the fight, including Mason Rudolph, Maurkice Pouncey and Myles Garrett all didn’t play in the rematch. This time, though, at least two of those players will be on the field in the Oct. 18 matchup, the most notable being Garrett and Pouncey. The Browns defensive end’s indefinite suspension was lifted earlier this year, and he’ll likely face an unfriendly crowd when he makes his first appearance at Heinz Field following the Thursday night helmet-swinging incident in November 2019.
A Thanksgiving first
The Steelers have never hosted a Thanksgiving night game. That changes this year with an AFC North game against the Ravens. The Steelers were swept by the Ravens a year ago but nearly knocked them off at home when Devlin Hodges took over for a concussed Rudolph and took the team to overtime. While they haven’t hosted a Thanksgiving game before, the Steelers are plenty familiar playing the Ravens on holidays. They clinched the AFC North in 2016 with a 31-27 comeback win over their division rival on Christmas.