Every season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ goal is to win the Super Bowl. However, they haven’t gotten close to winning a championship in years. They haven’t even won a playoff game since the 2016 season. That fact has been the bane of their existence recently. It’s probably part of why they made so many huge moves this offseason. When asked if he has confidence in Pittsburgh to win multiple playoff games this year, former Steelers offensive lineman Ryan Harris gave an optimistic response.
“I do,” Harris said Monday on the podcast Reiter Than You. “If you look at the last two seasons, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers were a quarterback away from making a run in the playoffs. Not just going and being happy to be there, but making a run.
“The tough one last year for the Steelers was losing that game against the Bengals at home. That’s something where you had a shot in the fourth quarter, couldn’t get it done, and that really affected the rest of their season. They’ve been one or two wins away without a quarterback each of the last two seasons. That’s not going to be an issue this year.”
That Bengals loss came in the final week of the 2024 season, and it felt like the final nail in the Steelers’ coffin. While they had already qualified for the playoffs, that loss made it feel like they had no chance to actually win a game. They ended the year on a four-game losing streak and had almost no momentum going into the postseason.
Harris is correct that the Steelers have needed better quarterback play. In 2024, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both produced middling results. Before that, the Steelers rolled the dice on players like Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph under center.
None of those options was particularly successful. Rudolph wasn’t terrible in 2023, but he also wasn’t a massive ceiling raiser. With a better quarterback, the Steelers might have been able to put up a better fight against the Buffalo Bills.
Now, it’s debatable if that will continue in 2025. Aaron Rodgers will be the Steelers’ starting quarterback, and that hasn’t infused confidence throughout Pittsburgh’s fan base. He’s 41 years old, and not many quarterbacks continue to play at a high level at that age. Tom Brady was a serious outlier.
Rodgers might give the Steelers more of the same under center. Like Wilson, he’s a veteran past his prime. The Steelers hope he can turn back the clock, but that might be asking for too much.
Given the talent in the AFC, it might be hard for Pittsburgh to win multiple playoff games unless Rodgers looks more like his old self. Much of their success will depend on him. While Harris is confident that the Steelers will be much better this season, others might need to see it to believe it.
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