Buy or Sell: The Steelers would have won a playoff game by now if not in the AFC North.

Explanation: The Steelers have found themselves in arguably the toughest division in football, the AFC North, with no playoff success. While they’re used to competing with the Ravens, in the past, they were the older brother. The Bengals are now perennial Super Bowl contenders, even if they don’t always make the playoffs. But having two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in the division makes earning a home playoff game tough.

Buy:

The Steelers haven’t won the AFC North since 2020, their only division title since 2017, their last playoff win in 2016. Since their last playoff win, they have hosted two playoff games, playing on the road more often than not. And while it’s not an excuse, winning on the road in the playoffs is much tougher than at home.

With the Steelers contending with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow in the AFC North, they simply can’t win the division. That’s usually how it goes—and how it went for them when they had Ben Roethlisberger. The Ravens had Joe Flacco and the Bengals had Andy Dalton, but that’s not on the same level. Nobody saw them as potential future Hall of Famers.

But if the Steelers were in the AFC South rather than North, they would be hosting playoff games. Sure, the Texans have some life now with C.J. Stroud, but they haven’t had a head-and-shoulders-above-everyone-else contender in a while. The last time the AFC South champion won more than 10 games was in 2021.

Sell:

Anything is possible with the Butterfly Effect, including having even less success. After all, the Steelers did win the AFC North a couple times, and they still couldn’t make it happen. The reason for their lack of playoff success isn’t just a tough division—it’s an insufficient roster.

They had Ben Roethlisberger on his last legs and a defense that needed to rebuild. The Steelers simply haven’t had a team capable of a playoff run in a while, AFC North or not. Sure, maybe they could have managed one playoff win or two here or there, but only in the most ideal setting. And that’s as far as they would have gotten. If they can’t win on the road, home-field advantage doesn’t magically make you better than you are.

The Steelers are building toward the 2025 season, following yet another disappointing year. While they reached the playoffs, they once again lost decisively in the first round. They are facing questions, both publicly, and perhaps privately as well. Questions about The Standard, and what the Steelers stand for.

The rookie class of a year ago was successful, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2025. And they need everyone healthy to do it, not an insignificant consideration. They needed a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2025 NFL draft yet again.

These sorts of uncertainties are what we will address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, we will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).