The Pittsburgh Steelers schedule release is set for Thursday night, along with the other 31 NFL teams. However, bits and pieces of it will likely be posted on social media before the National Football League does its official show. The Steelers opponents have been known for some time, but the order of games has yet to be made public.
Ahead of the televised reveal, here are three things fans need to know about the Steelers schedule release.
As a reminder, the Steelers will play the following teams home and away:
Home: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Baltimore, Atlanta, Carolina, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis
Away: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Baltimore, Jacksonville, New England, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Tennessee
Steelers Schedule Release: 3 Things Fans Need to Know Before Announcement
Odds of International Game Very Low, But Not Impossible
All home teams for international games this year have been revealed, and the Steelers were not among them. That leaves only one opportunity to play an international game, which would be in Paris against the New Orleans Saints. This comes after the Jaguars protected their home game against the Steelers to ensure it is played in the United States, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Saints have nine home games for the upcoming season, so the Steelers mathematically have an 11.1% chance of being the away team. The NFL tries to avoid scheduling divisional matchups overseas, but there are instances of it happening — including the Melbourne game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams. Assuming the NFL only has the one international divisional matchup, that bumps up the odds to 16.7% ahead of the Steelers schedule release.
Expect Another Year of Late-Season Divisional Games
The Steelers are always going to be stuck with at least two divisional games in the final 4-5 weeks of the season. Would it be refreshing not to have Cincinnati and Baltimore as two of the final five games every year? Of course, it would be, but the NFL thrives on late-season drama. There is no better way to keep people engaged in Week 17 and Week 18 than to provide divisional football… especially if the teams are fighting for a playoff position or division title the way it so often happens in a competitive AFC North.
Pittsburgh fans may get lucky and not have to worry about playing Baltimore again in Week 18 in a “winner-take-all” matchup, but the odds of playing someone other than a divisional foe in Week 18 are nonexistent. The best-case scenario for the Steelers schedule release is to have a schedule similar to 2024, when every other opponent was a division rival from Week 14 through Week 18.
Strong Possibility of Having One of League’s Toughest Schedules
This one is being thrown out there before anyone complains about the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell hating the Steelers. The opponents for this upcoming season were mentioned above, and there are going to be some very difficult games. Going on the road to play Philadelphia and New England will be the toughest away games outside of the AFC North, but Denver and Houston will be just as difficult when the Steelers host them at Acrisure Stadium.
When the strength of schedules is revealed shortly after the Steelers schedule release, many fans don’t remember that the league does this by design with coordinating the division winners against each other outside of the divisions they are scheduled to play in the rotation. The best case scenario for the Steelers is to have the games against Denver, Philadelphia and New England spaced out enough and also separated by at least a week from the AFC North matchups. If Pittsburgh does have to play tough teams in back-to-back weeks, ample rest (i.e., Thursday night to the following Monday) or the bye week would be beneficial.