The Pittsburgh Steelers come into the 2018-2019 NFL season with extremely high expectations, but there is a question whether they can live up to them.

Many analysts are picking the Steelers to easily win the AFC North division, and to succeed in the playoffs to advance to the Super Bowl. This team had similar expectations last year, and lived up to them during the regular season by going 13-3. But they failed in the postseason, falling in the divisional round with an embarrassing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

During the offseason, the team made very limited additions to their extraordinary offense, with the only additions being rookies out of Oklahoma State: James Washington as a third receiver and young quarterback Mason Rudolph.

The team made a few more defensive additions, with first-round pick out of Virginia Tech linebacker/safety Terrell Edmunds, veteran linebacker Jon Bostic, and veteran safety Morgan Burnett.

All of these additions add to the team’s depth, rather than changing their core.

As it was last year, the defense is the main concern for the Steelers coming into this season. Their “Killer B” offense is known to be one of the best in the entire league.

The defense, however, is coming off one of the most embarrassing defensive games in history, by giving up 45 points to the subpar Jaguars offense. The defense hasn’t changed much, with just some role-player additions, so they may struggle throughout the course of this season.

The Steelers also have one of the easiest schedules this season, but in recent history, the team tends to underperform against below-average teams.

Many are also skeptical about Le’Veon Bell, who skipped training camp for the second straight season. Last year, it took Bell about three games to have any real significant impact on the field, and if the same happens this season, it could really get this team off to a rough start.

Overall, the Steelers are going to be a playoff team in the AFC rather easily this year. Fans should be expecting a 12-4 record with a bye in the first round of the playoffs. To be successful in the playoffs, though, the defense must improve, whether young potential turns into talent on the field, or the team makes some roster moves to improve the defense.