For a while, it seemed like the 2025 version of the Pittsburgh Steelers was destined for the same fate as the 2024 team. That year, the Steelers started 10-3, but lost their last five and crashed out of the playoffs. This year, they started 4-1, but went on a slide that left them at 6-6. Their lead in the AFC North evaporated in the process.
Yet, this team has really bounced back over the last two weeks. A tough road divisional win and a dominant home win have given the Steelers a lot of believers. But former NFL DB Domonique Foxworth isn’t one of those just yet. He doesn’t see much of a difference between this season’s Steelers and last season’s.
“I guess it’s about what your expectations are for this team,” Foxworth said Tuesday on ESPN’s Get Up. “I look at them, and they played well. But I don’t see a team that’s going to go on a run in the playoffs. Because Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to have that much time in the pocket in any of these games. They’re not going to have quarterbacks they face that aren’t up to par [Tagovailoa]… The optimistic view is, while this Steelers team doesn’t look much better than last year’s Steelers team, the surrounding teams in the playoffs don’t look as good.”
Although the Steelers couldn’t right the ship last year, they do seem to respond to adversity better this season. In 2024, once things went bad, Pittsburgh looked like it had given up. After losing five of seven this year, with some of those losses being extremely demoralizing, it’s encouraging to see the Steelers bounce back and respond the way they have the last two weeks.
But it’s hard to deny some of their efforts against the better teams in the AFC. It wasn’t that long ago that the Steelers were booed out of Acrisure Stadium in a terrible loss to Buffalo. They lost in a similarly ugly fashion in Los Angeles a few weeks prior. Even in the NFC, they’ve lost to top teams including Seattle, Green Bay, and Chicago.
From the optimistic point of view, there is reason to believe it could be different this year. For one, the offensive line play has improved as the year’s gone on. And the Steelers might have a bright spot in Dylan Cook. They’ve been more flexible offensively, and Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have taken on new roles. On defense, the Steelers stopped Baltimore when they needed to, and completely shut down Miami for most of the game. Most importantly, the run defense was significantly better on Monday.
Pittsburgh controls its own destiny in the AFC North. But if the Steelers make the playoffs, their potential first-round opponents include New England, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Houston, and Los Angeles. All of those teams are hot at the moment, and two have already outclassed the Steelers this year. It’s up to the Steelers to prove things are different this time around. Next Sunday’s game in Detroit is an excellent opportunity.