The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 schedule has some big-time matchups dotting the 17 games throughout the season, some featuring some AFC North rivalries, others featuring some potential revenge situations for new faces on the Black and Gold.
When looking at the schedule though, which was released last Wednesday, two games stand out for a trio of The Athletic writers. That would be Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns on the road, and Week 8 on Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers.
In a piece for The Athletic Monday morning highlighting the one must-watch game for all 32 teams, both Steelers beat writer Mike DeFabo and Packers beat writer Matt Schneidman chose the Week 8 primetime matchup at Acrisure Stadium between the Packers and Steelers.
Of course, that matchup could include Aaron Rodgers as the Steelers’ starting quarterback, though he has yet to sign. If he does, though, the intrigue for the matchup skyrockets.
“He’s not officially on the team yet, but let’s assume Aaron Rodgers joins the Steelers. Barring injury or a benching, this will be his first game against the team for which he played 18 seasons, from 2005-2022. The storylines would be juicier if this game were in Green Bay, but the Sunday Night Football matchup provides fascinating cinema regardless,” Schneidman writes. “Rodgers might still not like Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, but he has referred to the Packers as ‘we’ on “The Pat McAfee Show” since leaving and will one day have his No. 12 retired inside Lambeau Field.”
The Steelers are still awaiting Rodgers’ decision, but all signs seem to point to him joining the Steelers at some point.
When that occurs is anyone’s guess, but the Steelers seem to believe that Rodgers is going to sign with them. That will give them a significant boost under center, pushing Mason Rudolph into the backup role, solidifying the depth chart some.
As Schneidman wrote, it would be Rodgers’ first career start against the Packers, a team with which he won a Super Bowl and four NFL MVPs in 18 seasons, putting him on pace to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when his career is all said and done.
For DeFabo, that’s the biggest storyline in the matchup.
“Aaron Rodgers has won the Super Bowl, league MVP (four times) and beaten 31 different opponents. On Oct. 26, if the 41-year-old quarterback is indeed a Steeler, he will have the opportunity to do something unique: win his first career matchup against the Packers and thus register a victory against all 32 teams in his career,” DeFabo writes regarding the Week 8 matchup. “Given the way Rodgers’ tenure ended in Green Bay, this could be billed as another revenge game (along with the season opener against the Jets).”
Rodgers seems to still have plenty of good relationships in Green Bay and still watches the team from afar. He still cares about the franchise, the fan base and many within the building, so this matchup could have very special meaning for the veteran quarterback.
Hopefully he’s healthy at that point in the season to raise the stakes in the matchup of the Super Bowl XLV teams and the Steelers can find a way to prevail against Green Bay, giving Rodgers at least one win over all 32 NFL franchises.
For Jackson, the Week 6 matchup between the Steelers and Browns in Cleveland is the must-watch game for the Browns.
Like Steelers-Packers, that game could feature significant storylines, like former first-round pick Kenny Pickett starting against his old team, safeties Damontae Kazee and Juan Thornhill swapping places and holding down key roles for new teams, and even former standout Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson could be suiting up for Cleveland.
The Browns have become Pittsburgh West within the division, and it’ll be interesting to see how things play out on the field. For Jackson, the style of football the Steelers play, particularly on defense, will be a good test for the Browns.
“The Browns can always measure themselves in some way against a team they know well — and a team that hasn’t had a losing record since 2003,” Jackson writes regarding the Week 6 matchup. “The Steelers always play a physical brand of football and know how to win games ugly. Their defense is good enough to make things that way if the Browns can’t get their offense going by Week 6.”
Fortunately, the Week 6 game won’t be in primetime on a short week like last season’s Steelers-Browns matchup was on Thursday Night Football, which was in a blizzard. The Steelers lost an ugly matchup and have struggled at times on the shores of Lake Erie in recent years.
Hopefully this one is different, but it will be must-watch due to the potential storylines.
