The 2025 NFL schedule has finally been released. Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers now know for which days and times they’ll need to clear their calendars. Unfortunately for the Steelers, their schedule features another brutal stretch to end the season, similar to 2024.
Warren Sharp crunched the numbers and concluded the Steelers have the toughest closing stretch to their 2025 season of all NFL teams.
for the second straight year the Steelers close the season with the absolute TOUGHEST schedule… by a mile
it’s not close
they’ll play 1 team in 10 weeks expected to finish with 8 or fewer wins
so much more difficult than #31, #30 etc… SAME AS 2024https://t.co/IOE4YDrLDw pic.twitter.com/vfvDZf1SDv
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) May 15, 2025
Last year, they had to play the Bengals twice, the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs all in a six-game stretch with three of those games coming in 11 days as well. Pittsburgh lost its last four regular-season games to finish 10-7 after starting the year 10-3. Pittsburgh then lost to the Ravens again in the Wild Card round to cap an extremely disappointing end to the year.
Pittsburgh’s going to have to be careful not to fall into a familiar trap this season. During the stretch Sharp is referring to, the Steelers face the Chargers, Bengals, Bears, Bills, Dolphins, Lions, Browns and the Ravens twice. According to Sharp’s 2025 projected win totals, the Browns are the only team on that list with less than eight projected wins. Aside from Cleveland, the Bears and Dolphins feel like the most winnable games there.
The Steelers’ schedule as a whole isn’t extremely hard, but this stretch could be even more difficult with how tired the team might be toward the end of the year. Pittsburgh’s bye week is Week 5, the week after it plays the Vikings in Dublin, Ireland. Art Rooney II doesn’t necessarily mind the early bye week, but he made it clear it’s not something the Steelers asked for.
Of course, any NFL team is going to start growing weary by the end of a long, grueling season. Having to play from Week 6 to Week 18 straight with no breaks is difficult in itself. Capping it with that brutal stretch to end the year could make things even harder.
If anything, it will be a good test to see what this Steelers team is made of. Last year, they clearly didn’t have what it took to make it through that gauntlet to end the year. One thing the Steelers should be better at this year is stopping the run. That’s encouraging, since it was arguably their biggest weakness down the stretch in 2024.
However, the quarterback situation remains a question mark. If Mason Rudolph has to start, the Steelers could really struggle during this stretch. With Aaron Rodgers, things might be better. However, given the early bye week, one has to wonder how much fatigue he’d be feeling at his age toward the end of the year.
All things considered, the Steelers are getting the short end of the stick, again. They don’t have as many divisional opponents on the back half of their schedule as they did in 2024. However, yet again, they’ll have to play some of the NFL’s toughest teams to close the season.
