3 must-watch Pittsburgh Steelers games on the 2025 NFL schedule
It’s still very early to be radically, overly analytical towards the competitiveness of the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, especially since training camp is months away. The roster will remain relatively fluid until the 53-man roster is ironed out along with the practice squad and any long-term injury designations. With the release of the 2025 NFL regular season schedule having just occurred last week, we analyzed the Steelers games to determine which ones we feel will be the top must-see matchups with the previously mentioned factors, as well as key players and opponent records in 2024, in mind.
Because every game in the AFC North will be a challenge – as they usually are due to the nature of divisional play – our list does not include any games from those series.
Nearly every online sportsbook platform out there features the NFL, and the 2025 schedule is a hot topic – especially when it focuses on perennial competitors like the Pittsburgh Steelers. With head coach Mike Tomlin currently the longest tenured head coach, Pittsburgh remains a team fans keep track of. So, let’s look at what Steelers fans should mark down on their calendars as must-see games on the 2025 NFL schedule.
Week 4 in The Emerald Isle ☘️#NFLDublinGame | 📝: https://t.co/KLvpnggEad pic.twitter.com/UVS1OU2vFu
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 13, 2025
Week 4: Steelers vs. Minnesota Vikings (Sept. 28)
(Ireland, 9:30 AM EST, NFL Network)
With one of the hottest rosters in the league in 2024, the Vikings will be the visiting team when they play the Steelers at famed Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland in Week 4. Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell led the team to a 14-3 record last season with Sam Darnold as their top quarterback surrounded by stars like Justin Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw. J.J. McCarthy will take over quarterback duties in 2025 and is considered by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks to be the biggest wildcard in the league this year. Brooks said,
“With a pair of schematic wizards in Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores pencil-whipping opponents with deft play designs, the Vikings should be considered among the top candidates to supplant the defending champion Eagles as NFC representatives in Super Bowl LX — IF J.J. McCarthy can hit the ground running as the team’s new QB1.”
Early fan reactions to Steelers President Art Rooney II stating that the team may not head to Ireland until Thursday on game week leaned toward unfavorable, with many citing the poor experience Pittsburgh had when they traveled in 2013 (to London, England) to face the Vikings – a game the Steelers lost. To clarify, Rooney did tell Missi Matthews, “It’s been a long time since we’ve done it… we’ll have to look into how other teams have been doing it lately.”
That tidbit sets up an opportunity for fans to get in on a moneyline bet on football betting software; with little to no knowledge of how the two teams’ preparation may go, the opportunity to still come out a winner is there.
With tickets to the game already selling very quickly – and the historic event being set up early in the season – this is one game every Steelers fan will want to schedule to be a part of, in-person or elsewhere. Watch parties are already highly anticipated, nationally and abroad.
Week 13: Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills
(Acrisure Stadium, Nov. 30 – 4:25 EST, CBS)
The last time the Bills and Steelers met was during the NFL Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL playoffs. The Bills walked away with a 31-17 victory. In their last four meetings, going back to 2019 (not including the playoffs), the Steelers have been on the road in Buffalo three times. Their last meeting in Pittsburgh took place on December 15, 2019. The Steelers lost three of those games.
A November matchup between these two AFC challengers makes our list because it was already expected to be one of the toughest games on the 2025 NFL schedule, but also because the Bills stand secure with Josh Allen as their quarterback, at this point, while the Steelers may still be trotting Mason Rudolph out late in the season.
The game will be later in the afternoon, which could make it a chilly environment for fans and the teams, as well. We consider this game a must-watch because of the potential playoff implications as both teams would love to get past each other and and advance in postseason play.
Week 10: Steelers at Los Angeles Chargers
(Sunday Night Football, Nov. 9 – 8:20 EST, NBC)
In 2024, the Steelers beat the Chargers at Acrisure Stadium (41-37), but these two teams have a history of being unable to win back-to-back games as opponents going back to 2009.
The long-distance trip and night game, just one week removed from a Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts, will feature a Chargers team that exited the 2024 NFL playoffs early and is looking to have a bigger 2025 season with head coach Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert at quarterback.
ESPN’s Kris Rhim wrote,
“The Chargers won’t win double-digit games. Of the Chargers’ 11 wins last season, just three came over teams with a winning record… L.A. benefited mightily from the NFL’s fifth easiest schedule in 2024 and beat up on some of the league’s worst teams in Harbaugh’s first season. With a much harder schedule and the Chargers roster not much improved from last season, it will be an uphill battle for this team to hit double-digit wins in 2025.”
That is the kind of thing Steelers fans love to hear about opponents, but there are analysts predicting Pittsburgh to also win less than ten games during the 2025 regular season. Beating the Chargers in Week 10 could set the Steelers up positively for the final stretch of their season, though, which pit this game squarely on our list.
