The Pittsburgh Steelers have won the AFC North for the first time since 2020. Ben Roethlisberger was the Steelers quarterback. Aaron Rodgers was the NFL MVP. The only players on this team who were on that team are Chris Boswell, Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Mason Rudolph, and James Pierre. A lot has changed since then, but Pittsburgh is finally back on top of the AFC North where the belong. The king has his crown back.
The 2025 regular season was a weird one for the Steelers. They started hot, cooled off, and then heated up again down the stretch when it mattered. They survived the dumb losses and the Fire Tomlin chants. Pittsburgh took care of business when it mattered. Rodgers shone in the brightest moments, playing a huge part in this team’s success. Plenty of fans dreaded his arrival, but it’s okay to admit he has been playing good ball for the Steelers.
Despite a few bad games, Rodgers had a great season at 42 years old. It turns out, the media couldn’t be more wrong about the guy. All of his teammates have nothing but good things to say about him. He always leads film study with the offense, inviting them over to his house every week. His mentorship is spreading through the team to young players like Will Howard, who gets to learn from the legend every day. No matter how the season ends, signing Rodgers was a net positive for Pittsburgh.
The Steelers made it into the playoffs by the skin of their nose, but they made it. The last-second win against the Baltimore Ravens on Tyler Loops’ missed field goal sent Pittsburgh to the playoffs. That was a fun night, but there’s no time to sit and celebrate it. It’s time to tackle the real challenge of winning in the playoffs. That hasn’t been the Steelers’ strong suit over the last decade. It’s up to Rodgers and the gang to turn that around.
On Monday night, the Houston Texans bring their ferocious defense to town to play the Steelers. The winner gets to go to Denver to face the Broncos in the divisional round. It won’t be easy, but the Steelers can win on Monday night. It isn’t an impossible task. They need a win, and more importantly, the city needs a win. Sports in Pittsburgh haven’t been sunshine and rainbows lately, and a little bit of playoff success would go a long way right now. The Steel City doesn’t like losing. Tomlin’s reputation is on the line, as if his seat could get any warmer.
Tomlin hears all the noise. The longtime Steelers head coach knows that he needs playoff success to make the people happy. His team has done a good job of handling adversity this season. After some of their most gut-wrenching losses, they got off the mat and won a big game. They lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers, then followed it with a big win against the Indianapolis Colts. After the loss to the Buffalo Bills, they beat the Ravens, then they beat Baltimore again after an embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns. It’s time for another signature win.
Once again, the Steelers defied the odds in 2025, according to the national media. Similar to every year for the past 10 years, everyone said they were going to finish at the bottom of the division, and they were wrong. They will say that Pittsburgh is worse off by continuing this cycle, and they need to bottom out to start new, and maybe they are right. A real fan would never root for their team to lose. If the Steelers are playing football, the people of Pittsburgh expect wins. Those people will be expecting a win on Monday night, and it’s up to Tomlin and his men to deliver one.
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