While the 2025 season has been an utter disaster for the AFC North’s other three teams, the Steelers are humming and on the verge of another winning season under Mike Tomlin.
At 4-1, the Steelers are 2.5 games ahead of the second-place Bengals for first place in the North. If the Steelers can leave Cincinnati with a win on Thursday night, it would likely take an improbable collapse for Pittsburgh not to capture its first division crown since 2020.
While the plight of their divisional foes has made it easier, the Steelers have created their own good fortune. After losing five straight games to close out the 2024 season, Pittsburgh went to great lengths to ensure that this season would be different. It’s early, but the 2025 season has indeed been dramatically different for the black and gold.
So, what changed? How did the Steelers go from a rudderless ship at the end of last season to a runaway division champion that seems very capable of snapping their nine-year drought without a playoff win?
Here are the top five reasons for Pittsburgh’s hot start.
5. Pittsburgh’s brain trust
In hindsight, the Steelers’ five-game losing streak to close out 2024 was a blessing in disguise in that it convinced the team’s brass that drastic changes needed to be made during the offseason.
And boy, did the Steelers make drastic changes. Here’s a rundown of the notable offseason moves executed by GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl.
In hindsight, all of these moves/decisions look like no-brainers. But more than a few of them were anything but at the time, especially the decisions to trade Fitzpatrick and to wait and sign Rodgers just before the start of minicamp. But all of those moves have proved to be the right ones at this point in the season.
4. Rising young players
In any salary cap league, a team needs to see development from its young players if it is going to have success. That has largely been the case for the Steelers this season and it is a major reason for the 4-1 start.
Specifically, the Steelers are getting weekly growth from their young offensive line. After a rocky start, the unit has allowed just two sacks during the past three games that included zero sacks during this past Sunday’s win over the Browns. On Sunday, two weeks after picking up a season-high 131 yards on the ground in a win over Minnesota, Pittsburgh’s offense ran for 100 yards against the NFL’s top-ranked run defense.
While he’s getting improved play up front, Rodgers is also benefitting from a rising group of tight ends, led by Darnell Washington, who at 6-foot-7 and 267 pounds is a nightmare of a matchup for opposing defenders. His blocking has also been a valuable facet of the Steelers offense.
Defensively, the Steelers have received stellar play from rookie first-round pick Derrick Harmon and third-year outside linebacker Nick Herbig. Harmon (who missed the season’s first two games with a knee injury) picked up his second sack of the season during the win over Cleveland. Herbig had two sacks against the Browns and is the team’s current leader with 4.5 sacks.
3. Veterans living up to the standard
Across the board, the Steelers are getting above-the-line contributions from their veteran players.
Isaac Seumalo continues to be the elder statesmen for Pittsburgh’s offensive line. Newcomer Kenneth Gainwell has proven to be a worthy successor to Harris while complementing Jaylen Warren in Pittsburgh’s backfield. Metcalf has developed a quick rapport with Rodgers and has been a massive upgrade from the talented yet enigmatic Pickens.
The Steelers have especially received a boost from their veteran players on defense, starting with their two stalwarts, T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward.
Heyward had a crucial forced fumble and pass deflection that led to an interception in Pittsburgh’s Week 2 win over the Patriots. In the Steelers’ last three games, Watt has tallied four sacks, one forced fumble, one interception and a fumble recovery.
At inside linebacker, the Steelers have gotten improved play from starters Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson. Queen, now in his second season in Pittsburgh, seems much more comfortable this year while continuing to wear the green dot. Wilson has also seen an uptick in play while embracing his new role that includes sharing time with veteran Cole Holcomb, who has given the defense a shot in the arm after missing all of last year with an injury.
Perhaps no new Steelers player sans Rodgers has had a bigger impact than Ramsey, who had two sacks during Sunday’s win over Cleveland. Ramsey offered a preview of what was to come when he picked off Rodgers during the first week of training camp. Ramsey turned heads then, and he’s continuing to do so now.
“I cannot say enough about Jalen Ramsey, guys,” Tomlin said following Sunday’s win. “He plays corner, he plays nickel, he plays free safety. He is exactly what we hoped he would be, and certainly he was significant today.”
Ramsey also got some postgame love from Rodgers, who made it a point to laud Ramsey’s performance on Sunday after he questionable to play with a hamstring injury and with an upcoming game on Thursday night in Cincinnati looming.
“Incredible player, person and teammate,” Rodgers said. “I think he just showed all of us the kind of guy that he is by going out there and playing today.”
2. Mike Tomlin
Like all head coaches, Tomlin surely gets the blame when things aren’t going right, so it’s only right that he gets some of the credit for the Steelers’ 4-1 start. Besides, this was Tomlin’s vision when the Steelers were revamping their roster this offseason.
Look no further than the emergence of Gainwell for an example of Tomlin’s vision coming to fruition. When looking for Harris’ replacement, Tomlin liked what he saw from Gainwell’s tape during his time with the Eagles. Tomlin saw a player who — because of circumstance playing alongside Saquon Barkley — hadn’t been used up to his full potential. Gainwell is now getting his chance to shine in Pittsburgh, largely because of Tomlin’s foresight.
Perhaps Tomlin’s two biggest impacts this offseason were the acquisitions of Ramsey and Rodgers. Tomlin loved Fitzpatrick and acknowledged that trading him was a tough decision, both professionally and personally. But it’s proven to be the right move given the impact Ramsey has made on the Steelers defense.
Tomlin and Rodgers have long been mutual admirers, and that longtime admiration ultimately led to positive offseason conversations that led to Rodgers signing with the Steelers instead of retiring. That has led to Rodgers giving the Steelers their best play at the quarterback position since Ben Roethlisberger.
While the acquisition of talent has been impressive, Tomlin’s management of the Steelers’ roster is even more impressive. Despite the significant roster turnover and the acquisition of several big-name players, Tomlin’s message continues to resonate with his players, who in turn continue to win games for their coach.
1. Aaron Rodgers
The quarterback is the most important position in sports, so it only makes sense that Rodgers takes the top spot.
That being said, Rodgers didn’t get the top spot just because of his position. His presence has been significant in more ways than one and is the biggest reason for the Steelers’ 4-1 start.
On the field, Rodgers may not be playing at his MVP level, but he’s not too far from it.
Through five games, Rodgers is completing 68.8% of his passes with 10 touchdowns and three picks. He’s been a big reason why the Steelers are top 10 in the NFL in red zone offense, which was a major reason why Pittsburgh wanted to sign him.
Rodgers is doing this with a team he joined just before minicamp and didn’t take a live snap with until the regular-season opener. He’s playing in a new offense and with new teammates that includes a second-year center and a group of unproven wideouts outside of Metcalf and Calvin Austin III, who was injured and inactive for Sunday’s win over the Browns.
What has been the secret to Rodgers’ success? He’s embraced every facet of being a Steeler, which means getting indoctrinated into the team’s culture (that included sharing a dorm space with Metcalf during training camp), getting to know his new teammates on a personal level, pushing said teammates in a way that is endearing, showing a level of patience when things haven’t gone well, and working in unison with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
It also helps that Rodgers still has his elite touch that has made him a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer.
It’s certainly not how they envisioned it happening, but the Steelers have finally round Roethlisberger’s successor. The two are trying to make the most of their time together, however long it lasts.
Despite the 4-1 start, there are undoubtedly some people who still doubt the Steelers, who started 10-3 last year before things fell apart. In that vein, Rodgers was asked following his first training camp practice about the Steelers’ Super Bowl prospects. He said at the time that the Steelers were probably among the 10 or 12 teams that had a legitimate shot at winning the Super Bowl.
Following Sunday’s win, Rodgers wasn’t quite ready to crown the Steelers as an AFC kingpin. He was, however, willing to acknowledge that the Steelers are on the right track after five games.
“That’s where we wanna be,” Rodgers said about being a contender in the AFC. “We’re putting ourselves in a position to start entering that conversation.”
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