The 2025 schedule for the Pittsburgh Steelers is out, and while the opponents for the upcoming season were known since January, the map of the season from an opponent, time, and date perspective is now known.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, they will have a bye week early in the season, setting up a difficult close to the season. Within the 2025 schedule, the Steelers have a Week 5 bye, which comes right after the Week 4 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland, at Croke Park.
For Steelers’ team captain Cameron Heyward, on a live episode of his podcast “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward,” reacting to the schedule release, he’s not pleased with the Week 5 bye week, but he thinks the team will be up to the challenge.
“I don’t think you prepare yourself, you just, you play the games and then after, I think it’s just, you try to mitigate in injuries towards the end of the season,” Heyward said of the Week 5 bye week and the challenges that could present, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “You’re not expecting to be off, but you know, that means you just got a good lather in the first part of the season. And so it’s gonna be interesting.
“I think it’s gonna be a little bit different, but I think we’re up for the challenge. It’s not anything we’re not expecting.”
Having a Week 5 bye week is tough since there are still 13 weeks of the season to go. That’s a lot of football to be played without a break, and that could take a toll on a team, especially the Steelers, who have another difficult close to the season this year with matchups against the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens late in the season.
That could be a gauntlet of games, much like last season’s late-season stretch was for the Steelers. Last year, though, the Steelers had a Week 9 bye week, which gave them a chance to recharge and get some key pieces back. This season, though, Week 5 comes rather quickly.
The Steelers’ bye week coming after the Dublin trip is positive, but having it so early in the season can be a bit of a hindrance. Over the last five years, the Steelers have had bye weeks in Week 9 (2024), Week 6 (2023), Week 9 (2022), Week 7 (2021), and Week 4 in 2020, which was the earliest of the bye weeks in the last half-decade.
Trying to navigate through 13 weeks could be quite difficult for the Steelers, but it’s something they’ve done before. It’s not ideal, but it can be done. There’s no real preparing for it, though. The Steelers will just have to take it one week at a time and find a way to be as healthy as possible, especially late in the season.
Check out the full episode of “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” reacting to the schedule release below.
