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The Pittsburgh Steelers have gone all in on trying to win during the 2025 NFL season. Pittsburgh added Aaron Rodgers earlier this offseason to be the team's starting quarterback this fall. They also made a number of aggressive moves that balance trying to win now and in the future.
The Steelers did some retooling in their receiver room, trading away George Pickens and acquiring DK Metcalf as their new WR1. They also added a handful of talented players during the 2025 NFL Draft.
Pittsburgh took things to the next level with Monday's huge trade with Miami. The Steelers sent away star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and some draft picks in exchange for legendary cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith.
Pittsburgh is now reloaded on offense and defense and ready to compete during the 2025 season.
But will they be able to keep Mike Tomlin's streak of winning seasons alive? Or will the Steelers finally crash to Earth and have a losing season?
Below we will explore why the Steelers are set up to crash and burn after their all-in offseason.
Steelers have a top-heavy offense that is incredibly vulnerable to injury
There is no point trying to sugarcoat it. Pittsburgh's offense will be the unit holding the team back in 2025.
That may sound off after the Steelers finally solved their quarterback situation, at least for now, with Rodgers. But he is a good example of the offense's main issue heading into training camp.
Pittsburgh has a solid starting lineup on paper, but they are incredibly thin when it comes to depth on offense.
Jaylen Warren and rookie Kaleb Johnson should be an exciting two-headed monster. But Kenneth Gainwell and Trey Sermon are less exciting.
DK Metcalf is nice, especially because he's a receiver who can dictate coverage. But if Metcalf misses any time, it is immediately a disaster. Robert Woods and Calvin Austin III round out the starting lineup with veterans like Ben Skowronek and Scotty Miller in reserve. There's also second-year receiver Roman Wilson, if he can stay healthy. That is a rough-looking depth chart.
Credit where it's due, tight end is set with Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith, and Darnell Washington.
The quarterback position is the worst of all. Rodgers has no guarantee to succeed, especially after joining the team so late in the offseason. The 41-year-old could easily disappoint this fall.
Or get hurt. If Rodgers misses any time, you're looking at Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard as backups. The situation could get ugly if the team needs to count on Rudolph or Howard against the Steelers or Bengals in a big game.
The Steelers don't have a terrible roster on balance, but their offense does not scream Super Bowl contender. Arthur Smith will have to work some serious magic if he wants to keep the Steelers in games this fall.
Steelers have a brutal schedule that provides little room for error
Perhaps the Steelers could get by with a mediocre offense if they had a soft schedule. But that simply isn't the case.
The Steelers have an incredibly difficult schedule in 2025, as far as we can figure at this point in the offseason. Pittsburgh is locked into playing their AFC North opponents twice, which gives them six difficult matchups right away. Yes, even the Browns.
The AFC North also drew the NFC North to play round robin in 2025. That is four more brutal games for the Steelers.
When you try and pick out the “easy” games, there aren't many to choose from.
The easiest games at this point look like games against the Jets, Patriots, Colts, and possibly Seahawks. I view those games as trap games for the Steelers more than layups.
The Steelers could still have some success in 2025 despite their schedule. But they'll need to stay healthy and get some luck along the way.
Will Steelers' upgraded defense make up for a potentially terrible offense?
If there's any reason to have optimism about the Steelers in 2025, it's the fact that the defense is stacked.
Pittsburgh has boasted an impressive front seven for what feels like forever. They added to it this offseason with the addition of first-round pick Derrick Harmon.
Harmon joins Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, and Alex Highsmith on a stout and talented Steelers defense.
The front seven may be impressive, but the secondary is the area where Pittsburgh has improved the most.
The Steelers now have Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey, and Joey Porter Jr. as their starting cornerbacks heading into training camp. There are some questions with Juan Thornhill and DeShon Elliott starting at safety, but the cornerback room could make up for those deficiencies.
It is easy to imagine the Steelers getting a ton more sacks and takeaways in 2025 compared to the past few years.
An improved secondary will give pass rushers a better chance to get home. They could also create more interceptions by themselves.
Meanwhile, the Steeler are already prepared to stop the running game.
I'm not certain that Pittsburgh's defense is good enough to make up for their lackluster offense. But they should keep the Steelers close in almost every game this fall.
It will be fascinating to see how the Steelers perform in their first game of the 2025 season against the Jets.
