‘Extremely Unlikely’ That Steelers Will Win Playoff Game With 2025 Schedule, Analyst Believes

The Pittsburgh Steelers faced a brutal schedule to end their 2024 season, and it led to a team that started 10-3 finishing the season at 10-7, losing its final four regular-season games before bowing out in the Wild Card Round to the Baltimore Ravens. Analyst Warren Sharp sees the 2025 Steelers suffering a similar or worse fate due to their schedule, writing in his breakdown of the team’s schedule that it’s going to be a struggle for Pittsburgh to win a playoff game.

“Unfortunately, their schedule this year is set up for another brutal close to the season, making it extremely unlikely they will have the capacity to win in the postseason or the ability to even survive this gauntlet and make it there.”

Sharp notes that by his metrics, the Steelers have the most difficult schedule based on who they play from Week 7 through the end of the season, and they also have the third-hardest rest differential from Week 7 onward. As we noted in our article about the Steelers’ rest differential from SumerSports, they are only at a four-day rest disadvantage, and their study found that advantages for rest have been minimized over the years.

But while the rest differential might not wind up playing a huge factor, their schedule isn’t easy, especially late in the season. From Week 13 on, the Steelers play the Ravens twice, the Bills, the Lions and the Dolphins, and with a Week 5 bye, the Steelers could be worn down by the end of the season.

If Pittsburgh fails to make the playoffs or win a playoff game, it would continue a frustrating drought. Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and if the team winds up signing free agent QB Aaron Rodgers, the hope is that the four-time NFL MVP will play well enough to end that drought. But the difficult schedule could make it hard for the Steelers to battle for a playoff spot late in the season, and as we saw last year, another late-season gauntlet might not only wear down the Steelers but could cause mistakes to compound.

The Steelers played their worst football late in the season last year, and if that happens again, Sharp is right that the Steelers may not experience postseason success yet again. But Rodgers, if he signs, provides some hope given that he played his best football of the year late in 2024, but regardless, there’s going to be a lot of questions about whether Pittsburgh can withstand a tough stretch after some of its struggles last year.