A group of 29 NFL.com analysts took a stab at predicting the division winners and Wild Card teams for the 2025 NFL season, and there wasn’t much love for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers didn’t receive a single vote to win the AFC North. The Baltimore Ravens were the overwhelming favorite with 26 votes, while the Cincinnati Bengals also received three votes.
When it came time to pick the Wild Card teams, the Steelers received just six votes. Judy Battista picked the Steelers to be the top wild card in the AFC, but she was the only analyst who picked Pittsburgh to be the No. 5 seed. The Steelers also received three votes to be the No. 6 seed, coming from Keegan Abdoo, Grant Gordon and Maurice Jones-Drew, while Dan Parr and Chad Reuter both believe the Steelers will be the AFC’s No. 7 seed.
The Steelers got the fifth-most points of any AFC team to be a Wild Card team, but fell behind the Bengals, who led the way with 45 points. Teams received points based on where they were projected to land in the playoff field, with a five-seed projection giving a team three points. The Steelers finished with 11 points.
Also ahead of Pittsburgh were the Denver Broncos (32 points), Los Angeles Chargers (31 points) and Kansas City Chiefs (24 points). The Steelers finished just ahead of the New England Patriots, who received nine points.
Clearly, there’s a lot more faith that the Bengals’ defense can bounce back in 2025 after struggling throughout 2024 than in Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. Despite an offense led by Joe Burrow and JaMarr Chase, Cincinnati finished 9-8 largely due to their defensive issues. If the defense can bounce back and play at a respectable level, then the Bengals should be right in the hunt.
The Steelers still have a lot of questions, chief among them how Rodgers is going to play after an up-and-down 2024 with the New York Jets. But the Steelers added to his offensive weapons by drafting Kaleb Johnson and trading for DK Metcalf and Jonnu Smith. Metcalf should be the team’s WR1 and an upgrade over what they’ve had in the past, while their deep tight end room and potential emergence of Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson could help their passing attack.
But we won’t know how everything will mesh until we see the group together, and it’s fair to have some concerns about how things may go. One area that shouldn’t be a concern for the Steelers is their defense, which should be one of the best in the league with T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Alex Highsmith, Jalen Ramsey and Patrick Queen leading the way alongside DeShon Elliott, Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay.
It’s a group that could help the Steelers make the playoffs, even if the offense doesn’t excel as they’ve done in years past. But the AFC is deep with a lot of teams vying to get in the playoff field. It’s not going to be an easy road for the Steelers to get into the postseason, but after making win-now moves this offseason, it would be a disappointment if they miss the field.
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