Through the first five games of the 2025 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers they won four of those contests. At 4-1, the team expected to win the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens lost four of their first five. Pittsburgh was primed to win the division as long as were consistent. The Cincinnati Bengals on the other hand lost Joe Burrow to an injury and started 2-3. Everything looked great for the Black and Gold, and the Aaron Rodgers experiment looked like it was working.
Then the bottom fell out. After losing to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football 25-10, Pittsburgh found themselves in a nosedive losing three of their last four games while Lamar Jackson returned to the Ravens from an injury and suddenly Baltimore raised their record to 4-5 winning three of their last four. Between the Steelers and Ravens, the last four games have been complete opposite and now Baltimore is poised to fly by the Steelers in the standings just one game behind.
In the Chargers loss, Aaron Rodgers had his worst game of the season and one of the worst of his career. Bad timing on his part to play an awful game. Between overthrowing and underthrowing to receivers, Rodgers threw for just 161 yards and missed on 15 passes in 31 attempts. With two interceptions, his only touchdown throw to Roman Wilson came late in the game when the final result was a forgone conclusion. His passer rating was an embarrassing 50.5. Rodgers was also sacked three times and part of that was to be blamed on him for holding onto the ball too long. That and he fumbled the ball under pressure on one play that he was able to recover but did so in the end zone causing a safety.
While the defense was a concern several games ago, it appears that unit is playing much better and more consistently. However, T.J. Watt is not the threat he used to be. Still, they are holding their own while the opposite is the case now as the offense is inept and playing very poorly. You can’t blame the running game because Jaylen Warren is running hard and effectively. He did rush for 70 yards against Los Angeles and had a 5.0 yards per carry mark. One on play he leap frogged a defender which will probably end up on many highlight reels.
One huge concern is the play of stud DK Metcalf. It was believed his arrival in Pittsburgh would provide a big time threat to the receiving corps and while he has shown signs of making big plays in the last several games, he has been a ghost. After this most recent loss the focus has to be on Aaron Rodgers. In Los Angeles he played like an older quarterback. He didn’t seem as confident on the field, and his passing attempts as to how poor they were was a bit shocking.
As repetitive as it has been, Art Rooney II, Omar Khan, and Mike Tomlin especially put all their eggs in the Aaron Rodgers basket before the season began. They were hell bent on bringing him in and while early on he showed signs of being the AD of old, he appears now to be fading. Since his performance in the Bengals loss on October 16, his last three games look like this:
- 219 yards passing against Green Bay and 12 incompletions, passer rating of 101.5, two touchdown passes, sacked three times.
- Facing the Colts, despite the victory, 203 yards passing, 10 incompletions, just one touchdown pass, and sacked again three times. Passer rating? 95.3.
- Then there is this Chargers loss. 15 incompletions, only 161 yards passing, one touchdown but two interceptions, a fumble he recovered but it went on the scoreboard as a safety, and that passer rating mentioned above of 50.6.
The frustrating part for Steelers fans is that this team has legitimate talent but given how Aaron Rodgers just performed and that after DK Metcalf with no disrespect to Calvin Austin, there isn’t a viable option to Metcalf. It now glaringly appears that trading George Pickens away was a HUGE mistake. Not getting another wide receiver before the trade deadline is also being questioned.
What I’m thinking now is it can be argued that perhaps the Steelers should not have traded George Pickens away. But still, even if he was still on the team, he needs a quarterback that will get him the ball. Aaron Rodgers got off to a good start, but he seems to be regressing and by watching his facial expressions he is frustrated and giving an impression that he is going against what he pledged when he signed a Steelers contract.
What Rodgers said publicly before the season began was that this was most likely his last season in the NFL and he just wanted to go out and have fun and enjoy the game. That hardly seems to be the case right now. I’ve had thoughts that we will have to wonder if it will get to a point where he gets so frustrated that he quits football before the season ends. Crazier things have happened.
Before the Rodgers signing, I was onboard with just handing the starting quarterback job to Mason Rudolph. He had started in the past and even got the Steelers into the playoffs as well as being well schooled on the Steelers playbook. If the losing continues, we may see Rudolph before the end of the season.
So where do the Steelers go from here? Below are their remaining opponents and side-by-side are the Baltimore Ravens and how I project the possible outcomes.
| Steelers | Ravens |
| Cincinnati Bengals (W) | at Cleveland Browns (W) |
| at Chicago Bears (L) | New York Jets (W) |
| Buffalo Bills (L) | Cincinnati Bengals (W) |
| at Baltimore Ravens (L) | Pittsburgh Steelers (W) |
| Miami Dolphins (W) | at Cincinnati Bengals (if Joe Burrow returns it is a L, otherwise a W) |
| at Detroit Lions (L) | New England Patriots (W) |
| at Cleveland Browns (W) | at Green Bay Packers (L) |
| Baltimore Ravens (W) | at Pittsburgh Steelers (L) |
| Final Record: 9-8 | Final Record: 10-7 |
Now, as crazy as the NFL has been this season and the difficulty in predicting games, anything could happen. Perhaps the Steelers right their offensive ship and win that Buffalo game and it’s possible they can defeat the Bears. That would make their final record 11-6. As for the Ravens, let’s say they sweep the Steelers and win that Packers game. That would mean they don’t lose another regular season game this season and they would finish 12-5 and the second defeat of the Steelers would put Pittsburgh at 8-9 if the predictions above stick.
One thing is for sure; Baltimore’s remaining games are like a walk in the park. If Pittsburgh fails to get to the post season and if they sneak in and lose in the first round again, Steelers Nation will be calling for the dismissal of Mike Tomlin and wanting some wholesale changes for 2026. The whole Aaron Rodgers signing will blow up in the Rooney/Khan/Tomlin collective faces and their grand idea will be a total failure.
On a final note, I’m not sure how many fans saw it, but on national television as the game was winding down, there was Mike Tomlin on camera smiling and yucking it up with a referee. Ahh…HELLO? Your team just got their ass kicked and seeing him smiling and laughing when he should be concerned with his team’s offensive performance did not sit well with me.
