The Pittsburgh Steelers narrowly missed winning the AFC North in 2021, finishing just a half-game behind the Cincinnati Bengals.

Despite nearly winning the division in 2021, it seems that the Steelers are an afterthought in the battle for the AFC North division title in 2022. Most national analysts are all-in on the Bengals repeating as division champs this upcoming season.

And look, I get it. Joe Burrow is a superstar and he's going to be a thorn in the side of the Steelers for years to come.

But Mike Tomlin didn't suddenly forget how to coach. And Pittsburgh's defense didn't suddenly regress.

Should the Steelers be the favorites to win the AFC North? Nope. Not after what Cincinnati did in the playoffs.

However, it's not like Pittsburgh winning the division is far-fetched, either.

ESPN made their predictions for the 2022 season this week and they lean toward the Steelers finishing over .500 but failing to win the division.

Then they named the one scenario where they could see Pittsburgh winning the division. And it starts with drafting a quarterback in the first round.

From ESPN:

The Steelers will win the division if … they find the next franchise quarterback this offseason and he's a turn-key starter. The Steelers have the pieces to be a relevant team in a stacked AFC, but they lack star power at quarterback. If they hit on quarterback and he majorly exceeds expectations in Year 1, the Steelers could contend in the division — but that combination is a long shot.

This is a bit insulting to new Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who is expected to be Pittsburgh's starting quarterback in 2022.

Sure, hitting on a franchise quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft would be an ideal scenario for the Steelers. But I don't think Pittsburgh's success in 2022 is dependent on drafting a franchise quarterback.

Trubisky likely isn't going to suddenly turn into a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback, but he should be more effective than a 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger was last season (especially since Trubisky is a better fit in Matt Canada's offense than Roethlisberger).

Even if the Steelers go with a quarterback in the first round (which depends on how the first round plays out, since Pittsburgh has the No. 20 pick), Trubisky is still expected to be "the guy" in 2022.

The Steelers can win this division if the Trubisky hype turns out to be legitimate. He doesn't need to be Patrick Mahomes, he just needs to be a guy who passes for close to 4,000 yards and limits turnovers. If Trubisky can do that, this defense is good enough to take down the Bengals, a team that lost to the Steelers twice last year and also lost to the Cleveland Browns twice.

Featured image via Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports