The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to 1-1 following their 31-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at home. It was a bad loss all the way around for the Steelers after an exciting Week 1 win. It may seem way too early to hit the panic button, but the Steelers might be facing a must-win game in Week 3 as they face the New England Patriots on the road. One NFL analyst thinks the Steelers not only have to win this Sunday, but their next three games as well, or else they could be in trouble.
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Aaron Rodgers and Broderick Jones celebrate after a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks.
Pittsburgh is entering a crucial stretch of its schedule already. For the second consecutive year, the schedule packs playoff-caliber opponents late in the season. November and December will place the Steelers against the Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens (twice), and Detroit Lions, along with a matchup against the Green Bay Packers in late October, all of whom were playoff teams in 2024.
With that gauntlet ahead, the next four games for the Steelers become even more critical. FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd said on a recent episode of his sports-talk show, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, that he believes the Steelers need to sweep this stretch due to the fact that things don't get any easier down the road.
“You’re playing Drake Maye, Carson Wentz, Joe Flacco, and Jake Browning. If they don’t go 4-0, we’ve got problems,” Cowherd said.
You don't want to say that a game is a must-win this early, but it feels that the Steelers need to beat the Patriots given how difficult the schedule gets in just a few weeks. Although Pittsburgh has not had good luck in recent years against the Patriots (the team haven't won in Foxborough since 2008), the experienced Steelers squad needs to get the best out of the young New England team that is in the late stages of a rebuild with a new head coach and second-year quarterback.
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Colin Cowherd speaks during The Herd with Colin Cowherd on FOX Sports 1.
The Steelers will travel to Dublin, Ireland in Week 4 to face the Minnesota Vikings, a team that could potentially be without its starting quarterback, JJ McCarthy, meaning Carson Wentz would likely get the start.
After their Week 5 bye, the Steelers will return home to face 40-year old Joe Flacco and the Cleveland Browns. With Cleveland facing Green Bay, Minnesota, and Detroit in the next three weeks, it is very possible they arrive in Pittsburgh in Week 6 without a win.
The Steelers catch a break in their schedule not once, but twice when it comes to division rival, the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury in Week 3 and is expected to miss up to three months. With Pittsburgh scheduled to play the Bengals in Week 7 and Week 11, it is likely that Burrow will miss both games.
"Pittsburgh has gotten very lucky. Joe Burrow gets hurt, and he won't play the two times Pittsburgh is going to face them," Cowherd said.
Jake Browning is the Bengals' current starter with Burrow out for the immediate future. Browning went 4-3 as the Bengals starter in 2023, filling in when Burrow had season-ending wrist surgery, with two of those losses being against the Steelers.
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Bengals' Jake Browning scramble around the backfield against Pittsburgh.
Hopefully, Pittsburgh can win its next four games to improve to 5-1 before the schedule starts to turn difficult. Although defeating backup quarterbacks will help the Steelers' win/loss record, 2025 will be defined on how the Steelers fare when they go up against some of the league's best when they get to the rough part of their schedule.
"The problem for the Steelers in the last decade has not been that they don't win, it's that they don't beat good teams and great quarterbacks," Cowherd said.
The Steelers have struggled against elite quarterbacks, especially late in the year, over the last few seasons. Pittsburgh will have the opportunity to try and break that trend later in the season with Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Jared Goff coming up on the schedule.
Steelers Were In A Similar Spot In 2024
The Steelers 2024 schedule was known as one of the toughest in the NFL, especially in the month of December. Pittsburgh won 10 of their first 13 games before a difficult four-game stretch to end the year, but they infamously lost all four games to end the regular season before falling in the Wild Card Round.
If this season is going to be different for the Steelers, they have to beat elite teams. Stacking up wins against backup quarterbacks is what you're supposed to do, but in order to be great you have to beat the great teams. The Steelers will have the opportunity to do so late in the year, and we'll see if they can seize those opportunities.
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