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By Bill Contz
For the Mirror
War historians recognize the widespread devastation caused when an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima that effectively ended the World War II.
Pittsburgh fans may bear witness to similar carnage thanks to Roger Goodell and his schedule makers who have evidently piloted their own Enola Gay with the steel city dead in their sights when they unveiled the 2024 NFL schedule.
The battle for bulging holiday television ratings and ultimate viewing supremacy will rage as the NFL faces competition from the NHL, the NBA, NCAA basketball and the expanded college football playoff.
Afternoon affairs in Philadelphia on December 15 followed by one six days later in Baltimore precede a Christmas Day visit from the Chiefs.
Three games over 10 days against three bona-fide Super Bowl contenders during a time of year when aches, pains, and injuries have all NFL teams scrambling for relatively healthy personnel.
Hey, 'tis the season!
This murderous late-season grind will likely decimate the hopes of what many consider a fringe playoff team whose divisional opponents routinely beat up on each other.
It is a schedule that all but ensures the Steelers' extending their streak of consecutive years without a playoff win to eight.
And did I mention that six of their final eight games are against the Browns, Bengals, and Ravens?
Starting around Thanksgiving there will be more jockeying for first place than the final stretch of the Preakness.
Last year, a moderately soft second-half schedule enabled Pittsburgh to sneak into the playoffs with a quarterback who spent most of the season taking reps with the scout team.
This season, I am forecasting Armageddon at Acrisure.
If the Steelers are to somehow survive this trench warfare and make the 2024 postseason, these factors must work in their favor prior to their visit to Washington five days after the presidential election:
1. The team must own the first half of their season. They face exactly one 2023 playoff participant (Dallas -- at home no less) during the first eight weeks and cannot be any worse than 6-2 at this stage.
2. A clearly defined starter must be the calling signals. This two-headed Russell Wilson-Justin Fields science experiment must sort itself out by the time they face the Commanders if not sooner.
3. Highly-drafted linemen must contribute and earlier than usual. It typically takes rookie O-linemen a full year to get comfortable. Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier must climb that learning curve more quickly
4. George Pickens needs to post consistent and better numbers. Last year Pickens went through a five-game stretch where he averaged fewer than three catches a game. As he now enters his third season, that productivity will simply not get it done.
5. An aging Cam Heyward must find a fountain of youth. Injuries in 2023 limited Heyward to his worst sack total dating back to his second season when he was a backup. He needs to return to form.
Mike Tomlin was rewarded with a three-year extension despite his team dropping December home games to abysmal Arizona and notoriously nefarious New England last year.
His club must sidestep those types of land mines in 2024 or face the prospects of missing the post season thanks to an NFL schedule bomb due to hit Pittsburgh in the second half of the 2024 season.
Contz was a starting offensive tackle on Penn State's first national championship team in 1982 and played six NFL seasons with New Orleans and Cleveland. He published a book in 2017, "When the Lions Roared: Joe Paterno and One of College Football's Greatest Teams." He resides in Pittsburgh.