In the blink of an eye, training camp and the preseason have come and gone, and the start of the 2025 NFL regular season is upon us.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, that means a trip to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to take on the New York Jets on Sunday at 1 PM/EST. Storylines are in abundance for that matchup, including the revenge games for Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and safety Chuck Clark, while also getting a look at new Jets starting QB Justin Fields, who spent the 2024 season with the Steelers.
It’s also the head coaching debut for Aaron Glenn, who once played for the Jets. And it’s the first real showing for the Steelers with all the new players on their roster, including Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, and more. It will be fascinating to see how it all shakes out.
For now, we have a few days to get through the buildup to the start of the season. Despite all of the new faces, many see the Steelers as middle of the pack, especially in the number of power rankings around the NFL media landscape.
Below is a chart of aggregate power rankings from several major outlets.
| Outlet | Rank | +/- |
| CBS Sports/Prisco | 18 | |
| ESPN | 15 | |
| NFL.com/Edholm | 16 | |
| Pro Football Talk/Florio | 16 | |
| The Athletic | 14 | |
| Average Rank | 15.8 | — |
Despite some of the big additions this offseason, a number of media members are wary of the Steelers, due in large part to Rodgers, questioning what he could have left in the tank, and if his ego could sabotage the steady Steelers.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who has been against the Rodgers-Steelers pairing all summer, believes things will be a disaster for the Black and Gold.
“The closer we get to Week 1, the harder it is to see the Aaron Rodgers experiment working,” Florio writes.
Hard to see how Florio sees things that way, considering Rodgers didn’t play in the preseason, especially since reviews regarding the four-time NFL MVP from training camp have been rather strong. Unless you’re James Harrison and just seemingly making things up.
It might be rough early as the Steelers find their footing, but the pairing has a chance to help them win a lot of games and potentially get over the hump in the playoffs.
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco believes that based on what Rodgers showed late last season with the Jets that the Steelers should be just fine, even if he ranked them at No. 18.
“How much does Aaron Rodgers have left? He showed well down the stretch last season, so if that carries over the offense could be good,” Prisco writes of the Steelers.
Rodgers threw for 1,270 yards, nine touchdowns and just three interceptions in the final five games of the 2024 season. Rodgers had a passer rating of 98.3 in that stretch, too, and played some good football overall.
Now, he’s in a stable environment in Pittsburgh with plenty of pass-catching weapons around him, a young offensive line that continues to grow and should be good this season. Not to mention, the Steelers have a star-studded defense that should be among the league’s elite, giving the offense something to lean on early in the season.
NFL.com’s Eric Edholm summed it up best as the Steelers are a team with a wide range of beliefs from media members entering the season. Things could either go really well, or Pittsburgh could crash and burn. Many believe there is no real in between, though that’s crazy for a Mike Tomlin-led team.
“Another team that seems to have one of the wider range of outcomes, even with Mike Tomlin’s excellent career consistency. Aaron Rodgers remains a mystery after sitting out the preseason, but the reality is that, even though he played at a respectable level down the stretch in 2024, Rodgers has been pretty average, or just above that, since 2022,” Edholm writes of the Steelers. “Expecting better than that in a season where he’ll turn 42 is a bridge I’ll let you cross first, thank you very much. This might work in the AFC South, but it’s harder to imagine it in the North.
“Thankfully, Rodgers does have several new weapons and a capable offensive line. Plus, there’s a near-elite defense on the other side of the ball. But it will have been nine years, come January, since the Steelers have won a playoff game. They need to cross that bar before we can talk about anything more for them this season.”
Again, the pieces are all in place and seem to fit together well — at least on paper. The Steelers’ defense should be great, the run game should improve as the young offensive line takes a step forward, and Rodgers should be able to hit some plays down the field and take advantage of some play-action looks, even if those aren’t his favorite.
It won’t be a high-flying attack that puts up 30+ points per game, and nobody is expecting Rodgers to return to MVP form. But with him guiding the ship offensively, the Steelers should be more balanced, and maybe even more efficient this season. That should pair well with the defense and lead to a lot of wins.
That could even lead to a playoff win, too. Nobody is expecting a deep playoff run, but just tasting some postseason success once again could be good for the franchise as it continues its transformation.
