The Steelers now have the longest active winning streak in the NFL

There is a new owner of an active NFL preseason winning streak as of Saturday night and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Saturday’s Las Vegas Raiders loss to the Dallas Cowboys sealed the Steelers’ 2023 NFL pre-season with the longest active preseason winning streak in the league.

This year, the Steelers finished the 2023 preseason with a 3-0 record, and they’ve also now won six straight preseason games dating back to the start of the 2022 preseason. Prior to their Saturday loss to the Cowboys, the Raiders also won six straight preseason games where they had previously They should have four wins in 2022 before starting 2-0 this year. Their six-game preseason winning streak ended Saturday with their 31-16 loss to the Cowboys.

The Steelers aren’t the only team to finish the 2023 pre-season undefeated, as the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Commanders also managed the feat. The New Orleans Saints could join the three teams on Sunday night when they enter the pre-season finals 2-0 this year. They play the Houston Texans at home Sunday night to close out the NFL’s 49-game preseason 2023 schedule.

Going into this year, the Baltimore Ravens are considered the lords of the pre-season thanks to their long winning streak. They opened their 2023 pre-season schedule with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles to push their incredible coaching winning streak to an NFL record 24 games.

The Ravens’ long preseason winning streak came to an end last weekend, with their last-minute loss to the leaders on the road. They followed a preseason loss in Week 2 with another loss on Saturday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Losses to the Raiders and Ravens this year now leave the Steelers alone with the longest preseason winning streak in the NFL at six games.

The Steelers have also had great preseason success over the years especially under head coach Mike Tomlin. Dating back to 2007, his first season as head coach of the Steelers, Tomlin’s teams are 40-24 in preseason games. He stated right after the team’s last preseason road win against the Atlanta Falcons how much he appreciated the annual practice games.

“You can never get enough of these opportunities on the court,” Tomlin said Thursday night. “You try your best to emulate him in the training environment, but that’s the way it is, so we’ll beat him as we always do to try to get better.”

The Steelers have played most of their starters on both sides of Thursday Night Football and throughout the preseason as well. Tomlin used a comparison to the sport of boxing this season when asked to explain why he plays some of his key players so much during the team’s training roster.

“You know, I don’t really need validation,” Tomlin said Thursday night. “It’s hard to box without sparring, so the pre-season is an opportunity for us to compete and sharpen our sword for battle.”

As for the Steelers’ ability to top the Ravens’ recently-recorded preseason winning streak dating back to the 2016 season, good luck with that especially with most teams now only playing three preseason games a year. While it’s fun to discuss a preseason winning streak, especially one belonging to the Steelers, it’s clear that it’s not as significant. However, don’t try to tell that to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.