The 2025 NFL season schedule is here, and if you’re not scrambling to buy tickets, you’re probably looking at the upcoming matchups wondering which will be the easiest and hardest for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve been tasked with putting together a ranking of the Steelers’ 2025 regular season games from easiest to hardest — this exercise is for fun, and I’d urge you to create your own in the comments below. I’ve tried my best, but it’s an inexact science and every year teams surprise us by being much better (or worse!) than preseason expectations.

With the caveats out of the way, let’s get to the rankings:

The Steelers’ 2025 schedule from easiest to hardest

Week 6 (Oct. 12): vs. Cleveland Browns (1:00 EST, CBS)

This is an obvious pick. The Steelers should be well-rested coming off an early-season, Week 5 bye, and Pittsburgh hasn’t lost a regular season home game against Cleveland since 2003. Plus, the Browns look to be in another year of quarterback purgatory.

Week 3 (Sept. 21): at New England Patriots (1:00 EST, CBS)

The Steelers, of course, are also in quarterback purgatory, making even the “easier” games on their schedule far from a guarantee. The Patriots seem to have a franchise quarterback in Drake Maye, and paired with a good recent draft, the future is bright in New England. But this is also a team that went 4-13 last season. By Week 3, I don’t think they’ll have everything figured out just yet.

Week 1 (Sept. 7): at New York Jets (1:00 EST, CBS)

The Jets were 5-12 last season, and with Justin Fields replacing Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, can we really expect a sizable leap? Fields will have talented weapons around him and his offensive line looks good on paper. New head coach Aaron Glenn will be in charge of a talented defense. But the Steelers have much harder games scheduled in 2025.

Week 15 (Dec. 15): vs. Miami Dolphins (Monday Night, 8:15 EST, ESPN/ABC)

Under Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins have come close to the upper tier of AFC teams in the past, but they seem to be headed in the wrong direction following a middling 2024. Plus, two general NFL truths seem to be in play here: Mike Tomlin almost always wins on Monday Night Football, and the Dolphins don’t play well in the cold. Playing in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have a clear edge in this game, even if the matchup falls in a difficult stretch of the team’s schedule.

Week 17 (Dec. 28): at Cleveland Browns (1:00 EST, CBS)

This Browns game ranks a bit higher on the list for difficulty just because of the location. Cleveland does not look like it will be a good football team for yet another season in 2025, but the Browns have won their last three home games against the Steelers. They play Pittsburgh tough in Cleveland.

Week 9 (Nov. 2): vs. Indianapolis Colts (1:00 EST, CBS)

The Colts went 8-9 last year and enter 2025 without Joe Flacco, but instead a quarterback room of Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones, and Riley Leonard. They lost two starting offensive linemen in free agency but did boost their secondary by adding Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum in free agency. This game would rank “easier” on the list, but Colts head coach Shane Steichen has gone 2-0 against Pittsburgh during his time in Indianapolis.

Week 12 (Nov. 23): at Chicago Bears (1:00 EST, CBS)

The Bears and Caleb Williams struggled against pressure last year, something the Steelers’ front seven should be able to supply in spades if they’re still healthy at this point in the season. However, the Bears had a strong offseason and look to have a rejuvenated offense under former Lions’ coordinator Ben Johnson. This should be an interesting matchup.

Week 2 (Sept. 14): vs. Seattle Seahawks (1:00 EST, FOX)

The Seahawks are another team with a lot of uncertainty entering 2025. Sam Darnold will be taking over at quarterback following a breakout year with the Vikings, but can he keep the hot streak going in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s system? I thought the Seahawks’ offseason had some potential, but there are a lot of unknowns at play. The Steelers’ home opener is definitely winnable.

Week 10 (Nov. 9): at Los Angeles Chargers (Sunday Night, 8:20 EST, NBC)

Neither the Steelers nor the Chargers have won consecutive games against each other since 2009. Pittsburgh beat Los Angeles last year which means the Steelers are due for a loss in 2025. Jokes aside, LA had a widely-panned offseason after a disappointing playoff exit last season, but Justin Herbert means the Chargers will always be a threat. And you know they’ll play tough under Jim Harbaugh.

Week 11 (Nov. 16): vs. Cincinnati Bengals (1:00 EST, CBS)

The Steelers-Bengals rivalry has gotten more even ever since Joe Burrow was drafted by Cincinnati. However, Pittsburgh has managed to slow down the Bengals’ high-octane offense at times in the past, and Cincinnati didn’t do enough to confidently shore up its struggling defense over the offseason. Still, the Steelers will have a hard time keeping pace if it turns into a shootout.

Week 8 (Oct. 26): vs. Green Bay Packers (Sunday Night, 8:20 EST, NBC)

The Packers are another somewhat hard to gauge team entering 2025. They’ve been good, not great with Jordan Love at quarterback and didn’t get substantially better over the offseason. Still, they went 11-6 last year in a tough division, and I’m generally bullish on teams with talented quarterbacks and good head coaches. The Steelers will have home field advantage here, at least.

Week 4 (Sept. 28): vs. Minnesota Vikings (Ireland, 9:30 AM EST, NFL Network)

The Vikings have one of the best coaching staffs in football and a great roster to boot. Head coach Kevin O’Connell led Minnesota to a 14-3 record last season with Sam Darnold under center. The Steelers’ best bet in this one is J.J. McCarthy having a slow start in his first real NFL season, or some weird, international time zone shenanigans leading to an ugly game where Pittsburgh comes out on top.

Week 7 (Oct. 16): at Cincinnati Bengals (Thursday Night, 8:15 EST, Prime Video)

The Bengals will be tough for all the reasons listed above. This game ranks as even harder because the Steelers will be the away team on a Thursday Night Football short week.

Week 18: vs. Baltimore Ravens (TBD)

The Ravens are very good and had another strong offseason. They’re bringing back the rushing duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry that crushed the Steelers in the playoffs in January. Add that the Ravens have seemed to get hotter late in the season while Pittsburgh has cooled down over that stretch in recent years, and this will be a tough matchup for the black and gold to win. However, the Steelers do tend to shut down Baltimore’s high-flying offense consistently once or twice a season.

Week 16 (Dec. 21): at Detroit Lions (4:25 EST, CBS)

This is a late-season away game against one of the best teams in the NFL. However, after losing both coordinators in the 2025 offseason, Detroit has some work to do to keep ascending. I still think the Lions will be very good this season.

Week 14 (Dec. 7): at Baltimore Ravens (1:00 EST, CBS)

It’s the Ravens again! This time on the road.

Week 13 (Nov. 30): vs. Buffalo Bills (4:25 EST, CBS)

In my opinion, this November matchup against Buffalo looks to be the toughest in the Steelers’ upcoming season. Buffalo has been a consistent Super Bowl contender in recent years with Josh Allen, and the Steelers have gone 1-4 in their last five games against the Bills. It’s a home game at least, but this will be a tough matchup.

The Steelers will once again be ending their regular season with a number of matchups against playoff-caliber teams. Weeks 13-18 will be a challenge! How would you rank the Steelers’ 2025 schedule from easiest to hardest? Join Behind the Steel Curtain and let us know in the comments!