It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for a weekly Steelers links roundup at BTSC. But first, let’s take a look around the AFC North:
- 5 factors fueling the Baltimore Ravens’ 5-game win streak (Baltimore Beatdown)
- Bengals Defensive Back DJ Turner a rare bright spot in 2025 (Cincy Jungle)
- Cleveland Browns offense finally hits the big plays in Week 12 vs Raiders (Dawgs by Nature)
What’s the latest on the Steelers’ upcoming opponent?
- Bills feeling the pressure heading into Steelers’ clash. (Buffalo Rumblings)
- Buffalo Bills’ offense to blame in almost every loss of 2025 NFL season (Buffalo Rumblings)
Now, onto some
Steelers news and discussion:
Saunders: The Five Biggest Reasons the 2025 Steelers Are Struggling
(From Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders): The obvious problems on offense have been the obvious problems
The Pittsburgh Steelers came into the 2025 season with a whole set of problems with the team’s offense that were obvious to just about anyone.
They have a 41-year-old starting quarterback, in Aaron Rodgers who was not particularly good in his last two healthy seasons, and was injured for all of one of the last three.
Rodgers has actually played better this season in Pittsburgh than his 2024 season with the New York Jets and 2022 season with the Green Bay Packers, but anyone hoping for a return to MVP form was always fooling themselves. This is about the best version of of Rodgers anyone could have expected to get, and the fact that he’s missed three halves of football over 12 weeks should not be particularly surprising, either, nor should the fact that the Steelers lost the first full game he missed.
A piece breaking down the big categories where the Steelers have failed in a disappointing 2025.
Steelers Defense Could Finish Worst of Mike Tomlin’s Career
(From SI’s Ari Meyer): As of their 31-28 to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Steelers have now allowed 30 or more points for the fifth time this season following their allowance of 31 points to the Bears this past weekend.
This ties the most that Tomlin has allowed in his career as the Steelers head coach, and with six games on the schedule, there is ample opportunity for the team to reach six or even seven such games.
Since the AFL-NFL merger, the Steelers have only allowed 6 games in a season twice, in 1988 under head coach Chuck Noll and 2002 under head coach Bill Cowher. Tomlin seems quite likely to join his two predecessors, and also has a decent chance of achieving a negative milestone that neither of the two before him got to.
Per Pro Football Reference, the Steelers’ 28th-ranked defense is yards per game is tied with the 1988 season for the worst in franchise history.
Mike Tomlin reveals 2 Steelers OL to replace Broderick Jones vs. Bills
(From Steelers Wire’s Andrew Vasquez): After ruling out Jones with a neck injury on Tuesday, Tomlin shared that offensive linemen Calvin Anderson and Andrus Peat will both take practice reps at left tackle this week — an exciting inter-practice storyline to keep an eye on.
It appears Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones will be out for Sunday’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills. In his Tuesday press conference, Mike Tomlin didn’t commit to who would be replacing Jones in the starting lineup.
NFL Week 12 overreactions: Chiefs save season? Browns should stick with Shedeur Sanders? Steelers collapsing?
(From CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan): Steelers are amid a second-half collapse
Overreaction or reality: Reality
The Steelers are in real danger of falling out of the playoff race entirely, not just the AFC North. Pittsburgh has now lost four of its last six games and sit at 6-5 on the season. After Baltimore defeated the Jets in Week 12, it’s the Ravens who now stand as the AFC North leader thanks to their superior division record. That lead could build even further when these two teams face one another twice down the stretch. As the AFC North lead has been whittled down to nothing, the Steelers now have to be cautious about the wild card race. They are now fighting with the Jaguars, Texans and Chiefs for the final wild card spot.
The Steelers have not looked great in recent weeks, and the national NFL media has noticed.
Are the Steelers collapsing again?
I’d agree with Sullivan that it’s “reality” that Pittsburgh is currently collapsing. The Steelers have enjoyed some quality wins this season, but having lost four of their last six and fumbling a sizable AFC North lead, it’s hard to argue anything else.
Of course, in many ways this is the exact same Pittsburgh team we saw earlier this season — nothing has really changed except for the record. The issue is that although they were handed a golden ticket to the top of the division with the Ravens’ early-season struggles, the Steelers still couldn’t hang on despite a 4-1 start and a roster that has plenty of expensive talent.
All is not lost, however. While Pittsburgh still finds itself out of the playoff picture in the present, there are still six games left in the regular season. And the AFC teams above Pittsburgh in the standings aren’t exactly having consistent years themselves.
The Steelers have already beaten the No. 1 seed Patriots and No. 3 seed Colts this season. They will still take on the No. 4 seed Ravens twice, and the No. 7 seed Bills await on Sunday. A lot could still change.
While Mike Tomlin’s teams have recently struggled to establish themselves are true contenders, the opposite is also true: the Steelers can never seem to become completely terrible, either. Pittsburgh tends to stick around in the playoff picture with teams that don’t exactly deserve to be there.
The Steelers may be collapsing, and it’s not an argument at this point that there will once again need to be sizable changes made in the upcoming offseason. But the 2025 season is still far from over.
Do you think the Steelers are collapsing? Is there still hope? Join the BTSC community and let us know in the comments.
