The Pittsburgh Steelers are in line for a significant reprieve when it comes to the difficulty of their 2025 schedule, according to analysis by Warren Sharp of Sharp Football.
The Steelers had one of the most difficult schedule in the country in 2024, according to Sharp's analysis, which uses Las Vegas betting forecasts, and not the team's previous season win totals, to form a more accurate version of each team's strength of schedule in the offseason.
Last year, the Steelers had the most-difficult schedule in the league , according to preseason analysis by Sharp this time last year. This time around, the Steelers still have one of the more difficult schedule, but it is not projected to be the murderer's row that the 2024 schedule appeared to be.
That schedule also didn't play out to be as hard as it once looked. Though the Steelers had the toughest projected schedule, they turned out to be middle of the road at 16th, according to the win totals of their opponents. Obviously, that doesn't factor in the difficulty of the Steelers' three games in 11 days stretch against Super Bowl contenders last December.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren runs the ball against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 21, 2024. — Ed Thompson ? Steelers Now
This year, thee Steelers have the 24th-most difficult schedule in the NFL for 2025, according to sharp. Despite the Steelers finishing second in the AFC North, they ended up with a slightly more difficult schedule than the Baltimore Ravens (21st) and significantly more difficult schedules than the Cincinnati Bengals (17th). The Cleveland Browns , on the other hand, finished dead last in the AFC North in 2024, but still have one of the most difficult schedules in the country in 2025, just barely ahead of the New York Giants for 31st — mostly because the other three teams in the division get the benefit of playing against Cleveland, the lone projected bottom dweller of the four.
Outside of the AFC North, each team will play the entire NFC North and AFC East. Additionally, each team will play one team each from the NFC West, AFC West and AFC South. The Steelers will play the Seattle Seahawks , Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts . The Ravens will play the Los Angeles Rams , Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans . The Bengals will play the Arizona Cardinals , Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars . The Browns will play the San Francisco 49ers , Las Vegas raiders and Tennessee Titans .
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This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Projected to Have Much Less Difficult Schedule in 2025
