Just hours before the official 2025 NFL Schedule Release on NFL Network, schedule leaks for primetime and holiday games are dropping left and right. Last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers received a brutal gauntlet down the stretch that included a Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs on a short week. This time around, Mike Tomlin and company can breathe a sigh of relief.
On Wednesday morning, Kevin Sheehan, Radio host for The Team 980AM, announced that the Washington Commanders will be home against the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day. Within the hour, NFL Insider Jordan Schultz announced that the Minnesota Vikings will host the Detroit Lions on December 25.
With the Christmas Day games set, the Pittsburgh Steelers can take comfort in knowing they won't be on the holiday schedule this year.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will prepare for a less brutal December than the one they witnessed in 2024
This past December, the Steelers were forced to host the Kansas City Chiefs for their fifth game in 25 days (third in a 10-day stretch). This brutal matchup came just four days after playing on the road against the Baltimore Ravens... and it went as poorly as we all imagined it would.
After suffering back-to-back blowouts against the Eagles and Ravens on the road, the Steelers were battered and bruised for their Christmas Day matchup against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. This resulted in a 29-10 beatdown with all eyes watching.
Thankfully, this four-day turnaround to play on Christmas is something the Pittsburgh Steelers will avoid this year. The Steelers ran out of gas late in the season during their five-game skid (including the playoff loss against the Ravens), and slapping a Wednesday game against the Chiefs in the middle of this December gauntlet didn't help.
With no promise of Aaron Rodgers coming to Pittsburgh, it feels like we could be headed toward fewer primetime and holiday games from the Steelers than we have seen in years past. While we all love watching our team under the brightest lights and biggest stages, this could be a nice change of pace.
We will anxiously wait to see how the rest of the 2025 NFL schedule unfolds for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but when you're unwrapping your presents on Christmas morning and spending time with family, you can take comfort in knowing your favorite team isn't playing. I'm sure the Steelers are thankful for this after what they witnessed last December.
Netflix holds exclusive broadcast rights for Christmas Day games, so if you still want to catch the holiday action between the Lions vs. Vikings and Cowboys vs. Commanders, you'll need a subscription to Netflix.