There’s a reason the Pittsburgh Steelers are widely known as one of the most successful teams in the history of the NFL. Their six Super Bowl championships speak for themselves. Given the Steelers’ recent playoff failures, though, they’ve started to fall from that pedestal. Now, we potentially head into the Aaron Rodgers era in Pittsburgh.
Mike Florio appeared on 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday, and he was asked if the Steelers would be viewed as a success with a singular playoff win in 2025.
“I think how you go out becomes important to what was expected when we get to January,” Florio said. “If they [Steelers] do what they’ve been doing the past decade, fighting, scratching, clawing getting to the playoffs, and win a Wild Card game, ‘Hey, we did better with Aaron Rodgers than we’ve otherwise done’… It would be relative [in terms of success] to what we’ve seen since they beat the Chiefs.”
That game against the Chiefs during the 2016 season feels like a lifetime ago. That Steelers team had Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell all still on the roster. It’s hard to believe, but the Steelers have had no playoff success since. Six consecutive playoff losses later, here we are.
Florio has been high on the potential he believes Rodgers has in Pittsburgh. In a way, both Rodgers and the Steelers need each other. Last offseason, Pittsburgh brought in Russell Wilson. They hoped he and his playoff experience could help them clear their hurdles in the big dance. That ended in one of the worst losses in Steelers history, let alone just the playoffs. Now, they’re approaching Rodgers with the same mentality. That’s not the most exciting thing for Steelers fans, but what other choice do they really have?
It feels as if Pittsburgh is in a perpetual cycle of trying to find a veteran quarterback who can finally get them over the hump. Aaron Rodgers could be that guy. He played well over the second half of the 2024 season. He’ll have two talented receivers to get the ball to and a promising offensive line in front of him.
All things considered, it’d be hard not to consider the Rodgers/Tomlin partnership a success if they do win a playoff game. Years ago, the Steelers didn’t define success by a single playoff win. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality we live in anymore. Going on six consecutive losses and five-straight one-and-done’s, how could the first playoff win in nine years not be viewed as a success?
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