Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 Schedule Quick Take

The NFL released the official schedules for all 32 teams in the second week of May and for the Pittsburgh Steelers their slate of games includes a matchup in Ireland on September 28 facing the Minnesota Vikings. That game will be considered a home game for the Black and Gold and appropriately enough, playing in front of Irish fans will appease the Rooney family given their Irish heritage. 

With the Steelers still waiting on Aaron Rodgers, if he comes to play for the Steelers that could change the outcome of games but for now it’s the Mason Rudolph show. Formal predictions for every game will come later as I will break down every matchup but without picking a winner, what follows are some kneejerk reactions to each of the 17 games that begin with a very intriguing matchup on opening day, September 7.

• Sunday, September 7: at the New York Jets. Will this game be on national television? If Aaron Rodgers is our QB, count on it. If Rodgers is wearing a Black and Gold jersey, then it will be a revenge game twofold. That’s because last year’s part time starter for Pittsburgh Justin Fields will be starting for the Jets. Even without Rodgers on the field, Fields will be facing what should be a nasty Steelers defense. Believe you me, Pittsburgh’s ‘D will be coming after him and he will not be treated with kid gloves just because he was a teammate less than a year ago. The Steelers have had New York’s number in the past no matter who was on the roster, so it remains to be seen if that domination continues.

• Sunday September 14: Seattle Seahawks at home. Last season’s sensation in Minnesota was quarterback Sam Darnold. While the former Jets’ QB had a career year with the Vikings he fell flat in the postseason. Now fans wait to see if he can do it again out west. He will have his work cut out for him in what should be a fired-up home crowd at Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers have not been as dominant at home like they used to be but the ‘Hawks lost the last two matchups to Pittsburgh, one in the ‘Burgh in 2021 and the other on the road two seasons ago.

• Sunday, September 21: at New England Patriots. Drake Maye held his own as a rookie in 2024, but the Patriots still only won four games. There can be no excuses for a loss here. Pittsburgh was in fact a playoff team last season, but many are predicting a large falling off. I refuse to buy that.

• Sunday, September 28: Minnesota in Ireland. This should be loads of fun. Given the Rooney’s Irish background and the fact there is at least one Steelers bar in Ireland that I’m aware of, I would assume the fans at the stadium for this game will favor Pittsburgh. The Vikings had a solid season last year and reached the playoffs as the number five seed sporting a 14-3 record then got smoked by the Rams 27-9. That was with Sam Darnold calling the signals but now the reigns have been turned over to J.J. McCarthy after he missed his entire rookie season due to an injury. Minnesota allowed Darnold to walk away and put their trust in McCarthy after toying with the possible signing of Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers will have something to prove in this one to show they are still a playoff contender.

• Sunday, October 5: BYE Week. An early bye week for the Steelers in 2025 and for me, I don’t like it. This means following the off-week Pittsburgh will have to play 13 straight games which will assess their attrition rates to see if they can stay healthy and have the same energy at the season’s end. 

• Sunday, October 12: Cleveland at home. As of this writing, we still don’t have Aaron Rodgers but what about what’s going on in Brownie town? Can there actually be too many cooks in the kitchen? Cleveland has on their roster Joe Flacco, former Steeler and Eagle Kenny Pickett, then two rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Sanders was thought by most experts to be the Steelers first round draft pick but instead not only did Pittsburgh pass on him, but Sanders also lasted until the fifth round before the Browns picked him. Perhaps more shocking is that Cleveland drafted quarterback Dillon Gabriel long before deciding on Sanders. Gabriel was a virtual unknown and its highly likely Cleveland is going to keep four QBs on the roster for opening day so one of the four must go and there can be no disagreeing that it will either be Gabriel or Sanders. If it is Sanders, then his story will be one of the most talked about come opening day as to how he was considered a first round draft pick and then didn’t even make it on a roster. As for this game, watch for T.J. Watt who had a bad outing against the Browns last year and will want to show his home crowd and the world he still has it.

• Thursday, October 16: at Cincinnati. The Bengals attempted to improve their defense with three draft choices on that side of the ball. The team is still deciding on the fate of defender Trey Hendrickson their leader in sacks in 2024, but Joe Burrow is back for another season as one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. Without knowing what each team will look like come game time, my gut says this will probably be a loss.

• Sunday, October 26: Green Bay at home. First, we had the season opener in New York with the chance Aaron Rodgers would face the team he played for a season before and now if Rodgers is with us, he will get the chance to face the team he became a potential Hall of Famer with. If Rodgers is a Steeler, I find this game more intriguing and fun to watch than the Jets matchup. 

• Sunday, November 2: Indianapolis Colts at home. We don’t know who the quarterback for Indianapolis will be either Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson. Riley Leonard is also in the mix, but he will be the third stringer come opening day. This is another very winnable game for the Steelers.

• Sunday, November 9: at Los Angeles Chargers. This is always a difficult game for the Steelers and once again they will be facing a former teammate from 2024, this time it’s Najee Harris. I already don’t like this matchup.

• Sunday, November 16: Cincinnati at home. Can the Steelers get the Bengals in the rematch? By this point in the season Pittsburgh should have found their identity, and they want to be a playoff contender they need to take this one for sure.

• Sunday, November 23: at Chicago Bears. The Steelers get to take on the “new look” Bears with Ben Johnson now as the head coach on the road. By all accounts, Chicago is supposed to be a much-improved team, and the Steelers will find out on this day.

• Sunday, November 30: Buffalo Bills at home. Ouch. Difficult game meeting the team that knocked them out of the postseason in 2023. If Mason Rudolph is the quarterback, he gets his second shot at knocking off the Bills in the playoffs.

• Sunday, December 7: at Baltimore. This will be the first meeting between the two bitter rivals since the Ravens made the Steelers look silly last season, knocking them out of the playoffs in the first round. It’s fair to say Baltimore is already a better team so it will take an “A” game performance by Pittsburgh to win.

• Monday, December 15: Miami Dolphins at home. In Pittsburgh’s only Monday Night Football appearance of the season, they get a Dolphins team coming off a suspect season, but they are talented. The Steelers love the prime-time games, so they’ll be ready for this one.

• Sunday, December 21: at Detroit Lions. The difficult games to end the season continue. Detroit had a disappointing ending to their season after being of the best teams all season long last year. Upended by the Washington Commanders, Detroit will be out to redeem themselves in 2025.

• Sunday, December 28: at Cleveland. The Browns were embarrassed all last year, and it is my opinion their record did not reflect how good of a team they could have been. They will be improved this season. This game could very well have playoff implications. 

• Final game of the season, date to be determined: Baltimore at home. Depending on both team’s records this game might be rendered meaningless. It could also have an impact on the AFC North division title for one or both teams.

So, there you have it. 17 games and how many will the Steelers win? As I quickly run through the schedule I do not like what I see. It’s very possible that the Steelers in 2025 will finish 9-8. With that said, what happened last year with Pittsburgh’s schedule was that they had to run through a “gauntlet” of games in their final four matchups. Those four opponents were Philadelphia and Baltimore on the road and then the final two at home facing Kansas City and Cincinnati. Pittsburgh dropped all four and their opening playoff game to finish the season with five straight losses. 

Now in 2025, the Steelers are faced with another six difficult games to close the season. In succession, from November 30 to the last game on a date to be determined, Pittsburgh will have games against the Bills, Ravens, Dolphins, Lions, Browns, and the Ravens again. Three of those games are on the road in Baltimore, Detroit, and Cleveland. This could very well be a mirror of 2024 and it’s feasible that the Steelers lose the last six games. 

I’ve written in previous articles that if the Steelers bring Aaron Rodgers in and the team either fails to make the playoffs or gets knocked out in the first round for the seventh straight time, Mike Tomlin should need replaced. This is his and Omar Khan’s idea and plan to bring in Rodgers and if it’s a failure, it’s on them. Team President Art Rooney II will also shoulder blame. Either way I think this will be Tomlin’s final season unless he makes a deep run into the postseason. 



Finally, on ESPN I watched some commentary from Stephen A. Smith when he was asked if the Steelers might start the season 0-6. He begrudgingly said it’s a possibility. I could not believe what I was hearing. The Pittsburgh Steelers have never begun a season 0-6 unless you count on the year they and the Chicago Cardinals joined forces because of World War II and that team finished the season 0-10. No way are the Steelers going to lose consecutive games to the Jets, Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Browns, and Bengals. 

The Steelers might lose a few of them but not all. To believe that is ludicrous.