If the Pittsburgh Steelers thought they had a tough draw in 2024, they haven't seen anything yet. In the final stretch of the season, Mike Tomlin's team had a daunting schedule slate against the Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs, and Bengals to close out the regular season before facing the Ravens in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
The Steelers went 0-5 to close out the year (including the postseason), but leading up to that disastrous stretch, they had an easy schedule that helped them get off to a 10-3 start this past season. Now things look more difficult than ever.
On January 22, the Pittsburgh Steelers released their full opponent list for the 2025 season... and it is brutal.
Steelers 2025 home opponents:
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Buffalo Bills
- Green Bay Packers
- Indianapolis Colts
- Miami Dolphins
- Minnesota Vikings
- Seattle Seahawks
Steelers 2025 away opponents:
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- Los Angeles Chargers
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
As always, the Steelers will have six divisional games—three at home and three on the road. These will come against AFC North rivals the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh split with their divisional rivals in 2024 but had a losing record if you count their playoff loss against Baltimore.
From there, Mike Tomlin's team will host upper-echelon opponents like the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers while also getting teams like the Dolphins, Colts, and Seahawks.
This year, the Steelers will have eight road games (compared to nine home games), but one of their home contests is expected to be overseas in Ireland. On the road, the Steelers will travel to their divisional rivals while also playing tough games against the Lions and Chargers. However, Pittsburgh should have at least a few winnable contests against teams like the Jets, Patriots, and Bears.
These teams could look very different next season, however. The Bears, for example, will have a talented quarterback in Caleb Williams in his second season with new innovative head coach and former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Meanwhile, quarterback Drake Maye showed incredible promise as a rookie and could take a significant step forward next season, while the Dolphins and Seahawks could return to being playoff-caliber teams next season.
A lot can change between now and the start of the year. We won't know when these games will be played until May when the 2025 NFL schedule is released. However, we can get a glimpse into the future with how daunting this opponent list looks on paper for the Steelers.