Back in September, The Pitt News easily guessed the Pittsburgh Steelers would finish the 2025-26 regular season with a 10-7 record. The previous two seasons, the Steelers finished with a 10-7 record and a loss in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.
The playoff beatdown was enough for Tomlin to step away. Every employed Steelers assistant coach was told they should search for another job, as it was no guarantee the new head coach would retain their services, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
It’s no guarantee quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers fifth different Week 1 starter in as many years, will return for a second year with the Steelers, even though “most if not all of [the players] want the veteran quarterback to return in 2026,” according to ESPN.
Next season, surely, will look different for the Steelers. As the playoffs continue without the Black and Gold, it’s time to look back on the Steelers’ winding road to 10-7 and an early playoff exit.
In a double-sided revenge game for Rodgers, the oldest player in the league, and former Steelers quarterback Justin Fields, the Steelers started the season with a 34-32 victory over the Jets. Veteran kicker Chris Boswell kicked a game-winning career-long 60-yard field goal to seal victory and pay off Rodgers’ four touchdown passes.
The next week, Steelers fans were brought back to earth. In their home opener, the Steelers lost 31-17 to the Seahawks. Although a decisive loss on paper, the Steelers hung around until rookie running back Kaleb Johnson muffed a kickoff and then completely gave up on the play, allowing the Seahawks to recover the kickoff for a touchdown. Johnson, the Steelers’ third-round pick, was iced out for the rest of the season. Rather than letting a young player develop on the field, the Steelers only gave Johnson 28 carries.
Arguably, the Steelers’ most impressive win of the season came in a Week 3 trip to New England. The Steelers earned 166 fewer yards on offense, but a perfect 3-for-3 on trips to the red zone — a product of Rodgers’ play — and five takeaways were enough to propel the Steelers 21-14 over the Patriots. Although an early-season matchup, the Patriots went on to finish the season 14-3 — good for No. 2 in the AFC — and are on deck to play the Broncos in the AFC Championship. Had the playoffs taken place in September, the Steelers might be playing for a trip to Super Bowl 60.
The following week, the Steelers pulled out a nail-biting victory over the Vikings in Ireland. Vikings backup quarterback Carson Wentz threw for 350-yards, calling the Steelers defense — the most expensive unit in the league — into question.
A sweat-free win over the Browns brought the Steelers to a 4-1 record and a two-game lead in the AFC North. Former first-round offensive tackle Broderick Jones had a career-best game against reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. While the Steelers’ defense was struggling to find its footing against talented players, the offensive line was playing great. Rodgers, a less mobile quarterback given his age, often had ample time in the pocket to make the best decision and throw.
The Steelers were in the lead for the division title and coming off three-straight wins. Of course, it’s time for disappointment. On Thursday Night Football, the Steelers lost 33-31 to the Bengals, quarterbacked by former Ravens and Browns quarterback Joe Flacco. Star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase set Bengals’ single-game records for catches (16) and targets (23).
The Steelers’ inability to guard or adjust to Chase while also letting running back Chase Brown have his second-career 100-yard rushing game was enough for Steelers fans to ring the alarms — alarms loud enough for dormant fans in the “Fire Tomlin” camp to awake and start campaigning again.
In Rodgers’ second revenge game of the season, the Steelers fell 35-25 to the Packers. Rodgers won four MVP awards and Super Bowl 45 against Tomlin and the Steelers in 18 seasons with the Packers, but was outdueled by his successor, quarterback Jordan Love.
Packers fans took over Acrisure Stadium with “Go Pack, Go!” chants loud enough Rodgers struggled to communicate with his offense — an issue Rodgers in all his time had never experienced during a home game.
Back-to-back uninspiring defensive performances were a worrying sign when running back Jonathan Taylor and the 7-1 Colts came to town. But, of course, right when Steelers fans’ expectations were the lowest, the defense came to play. They recovered three fumbles and caught three interceptions. Taylor, the then-rushing leader, was held to a season-low 45-yards on 14 carries.
To balance the scale, the Steelers played their worst offensive game of the season. Rodgers’ 51.6% completion percentage was his worst in the last five seasons. The Steelers only scored three points until a garbage-time touchdown pass to wide receiver Roman Wilson.
Should expectations for a team change week-to-week as much as the Steelers did? Arguably, yes. Their inconsistency, especially on defense, was troubling. Then, on queue, the Steelers dominated the Bengals 34-12 at home with backup quarterback Mason Rudolph playing the second half due to Rodgers suffering a wrist injury. All-Pro safety Jalen Ramsey was kicked out of the game for punching Ja’Marr Chase after getting spit on.
Trailing by three points in the fourth quarter against the Bears, the Steelers’ defense forced consecutive three-and-outs, giving their offense ample time to at least tie the game. But Rudolph and the Steelers couldn’t even get in field goal range, suffering a 31-28 loss and falling to second place in the AFC North standings.
The Steelers failed to retake the lead when the Bills set an Acrisure Stadium visitor record with 249-rushing yards against the Steelers the next week. Quarterback Josh Allen surpassed Cam Newton for the most career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in league history (76). The Bills’ almost 42-minutes of possession were the fifth most by a team this season.
Despite starting 1-5, the Ravens were tied with the Steelers at 6-6. A trip to Baltimore would break the tie. Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely, in the officials’ eyes, couldn’t hang on to the game-winning touchdown long enough, and the Steelers, without recording even a first down in the fourth quarter, escaped with a 27-22 win.
A comfortable Monday Night Football win over the Dolphins continued much-needed momentum as the Steelers headed to Detroit for a Thanksgiving Day game as 7-point underdogs. After leading most of the game, the Lions put together three-straight 10-play drives in the fourth quarter. The first two resulted in touchdowns.
The third almost did. On the last play of the game, Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was called for offensive pass interference against Ramsey. But the play isn’t over when this flag is thrown. St. Brown makes a catch outside of the end zone, is pushed backwards several yards, laterals the ball to quarterback Jared Goff, and Goff dives into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. After much discussion, a referee awkwardly announced that there was a touchdown, but it didn’t count due to the penalty, and the game was over.
In other news, Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf threw a punch at a Lions fan during the game and was suspended for the remainder of the regular season.
This was an unfortunate outcome for Pittsburgh — mid-season acquisition Marquez Valdes-Scantling, an old friend of Rodgers, had to step in as the Steelers’ No. 1 wide receiver in the next week’s trip to Cleveland. To win the division and secure a spot in the playoffs, all the Steelers had to do was beat the 3-12 Browns. But the Steelers couldn’t score more than six points while the Browns scored 13, and a Ravens win against the Packers tied up a Week 18 matchup for all the marbles.
It was Sunday Night Football, the finale of the 2025-26 regular season, Steelers-Ravens, for the final playoff spot and for the AFC North title. What could’ve made the game more anticipated?
Heading into the fourth quarter, it looked like any other Steelers-Ravens game. The Steelers led 13-10, and both defenses were dominating the game. Then the game flipped.
All of a sudden, the offenses came alive. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson retook the lead on a 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Zay Flowers. Eight plays later, Gainwell punched in a two-yard touchdown run, putting the Steelers ahead 20-17. Then, third-and-one in their own territory, the Jackson looked like he was about to take a season-threatening sack. But no — Flowers was streaking wide-open for Jackson to throw a 64-yard touchdown only three plays after Gainwell’s score.
With no timeouts, Rodgers needed to execute a touchdown drive. On third-and-10 with 55 seconds remaining, Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III juked the Ravens defender and caught a 26-yard touchdown pass. Four drives and four touchdowns were not only strange for Steelers-Ravens, but also for how the game had gone thus far. It got even weirder when Boswell’s extra point try was blocked, giving the Steelers only a two-point lead instead of three.
With the season on the line, on fourth-and-seven, Jackson found Likely for a 26-yard completion on the sideline, putting the Ravens in range to kick a game-winning field goal. Instead of running a real play and calling their final timeout, the Ravens elected to move two yards backward to give rookie kicker Tyler Loop his preferred spotting of the ball.
Then, in below-freezing temperatures, Loop missed his 44-yard field goal wide right as time expired. The Steelers won the AFC North and were headed to the playoffs.
For Steelers fans, a home playoff game was an excellent reward for enduring a stressful season. Excluding 2020, which had less than full attendance due to COVID, the last home playoff game was a 2016 Wild Card win over the Dolphins.
Of course, that excitement only lasted a week, as the Steelers suffered the worst home playoff loss in franchise history a week later. But for that week, visions of winning Super Bowl trophy No. 7 crossed the minds of many.
The Steelers’ 2025-26 season ended exactly as many expected — even if the road had more twists and turns than normal. Although the Steelers won the division and made the playoffs — a glowing success for some teams — for a franchise with the history of the Steelers, it’s more than enough of a cause for change.
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