AFC North 2025 Season Wrap – Steelers

Today, we round out our look at the AFC North’s tumultuous 2025 season with a review of the division-winning Steelers.

Given the leaguewide desire for roster youth, the Steelers were a bit of an anomaly in trusting their offense to 42 year-old former league MVP Aaron Rodgers, and similarly trusting their other aging veterans to continue their previous level of play.

The results were a decidedly mixed bag, but the team DID win the division.

There’s some sort of comfort in that, right, Steelers fans?

Right?

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)

Tough to know where to begin with this bunch…

Given their ugly, uninspired first-round playoff exit in 2024, the 2025 offseason was considered somewhat critical to the Steelers’ future success.  Having posted numerous winning records and division titles over the last decade, the Steelers enjoyed no postseason victories during the same period, and their 2025 results were no exception.  With no realistic chance at finding a suitable, immediate signal caller in the 2025 draft, the team opted to pick from the free agency market more than at any time in franchise history.  The pieces they collected effectively embody the 2025 season.

In addition to Rodgers, the team added Pro Bowl WR D.K. Metcalf and third-down RB Kenneth Gainwell, and traded for TE Jonnu Smith and then-CB Jalen Ramsey; Rodgers, Metcalf and Ramsey were all team leaders statistically at their respective positions, with Gainwell showcasing his versatility enough to be voted the team’s 2025 MVP.  The offense wasn’t considered “elite” in the sense a younger roster might be, but the defense was expensive, versatile, and expected to be the cornerstone of any 2025 success the team would have. The offense only had to be average, says the thinking, and the defense would do the rest.

Reality is fickle and unreliable.

The team’s offensive success was spotty at best, and often underwhelming.  Rodgers (327-498 [65.7 %], 3,322 yards, 24 TDs, 7 INTs) occasionally resembled his former MVP self, but his lack of mobility and marked fear of contact added up to remarkably average overall output.  The teams’ rushing leader, RB Jaylen Warren (958 yards, 6 TDs, 40 catches, 333 yards, 2 TDs) was solid, but again fell into the “complimentary piece” description, often disappearing for long stretches while the team tossed multiple dumpoffs to Gainwell (537 yards, 5 TDs, 73 catches, 486 yards, 3 TDs). Metcalf (59 catches, 850 yards, 6 TDs), considered one of the fastest players in the NFL, rarely broke out, totaling over five catches in a single game just once in 15 starts.  Metcalf’s late-season two-game suspension (fan altercation) resulted in a loss to the Browns and their excellent pass rush, and a squeaker of a win in Pittsburgh in Week 18 by virtue of a last-second missed Ravens FG.

The much-ballyhooed defense was effective enough to garner a playoff berth, and it actually increased its sacks totals from the previous year (40 / 48), but often proved inconsistent against middling offenses. In losses to the hobbled Bengals and broken Chargers, the Steelers simply lost the ability to cover receivers deep, forcing a position change to safety by CB Ramsey.  OLB Alex Highsmith (50 tackles, 9,5 sacks) enjoyed a breakout year in which he led the team in sacks.  DT Cam Heyward (78 tackles, 3.5 sacks) continued to defy the aging process. Four Steelers pulled in two interceptions each.

K Chris Boswell (27-32 FGA) was a bit less reliable in 2025, but still provided some clutch kicks where needed. P Corliss Waitman (45.8 AVG) needs  competition in training camp.

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And that, friends, neighbors and others, puts the 2025 season behind us.  Given that three of the four AFC North teams have hired new head coaches since the Steelers stumbled out of the playoffs, we might be looking at very different outcomes after next season.

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  Enjoy the offseason, such as it is.

Go Orioles.