PITTSBURGH —The Pittsburgh Steelers ' 2025 season ended the way it began on Monday — with the team mostly twiddling its thumbs as time fruitlessly passes by.
The Steelers lost 30-6 to the Houston Texans in game that was both closer than the score and somehow not. The Steelers were still well within striking distance, down only four points when a Houston strip sack and defensive touchdown by Will Anderson turned the game on its ear.
A play here or there — a critical drop by DK Metcalf , a non-call on a long pass to Calvin Austin III — and the Steelers might have found a way to win this game.
They were also out-gained 408-175, and it was only through the graces of three Houston turnovers that they were in the game at all.
Houston Texans safety Calen Bullock celebrates a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 12, 2026. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
After the first defensive touchdown, Houston scored again, pushing the score to the final lopsided margin. Mason Rudolph entered the game. The Steelers handed off a bunch, as the crowd exited Acrisure Stadium, except for those few masochists who stayed to watch the clock finally hit zeroes.
They simply wasted the time. And really, that's the story of the 2025 Steelers, a team who entered the season with low expectations, few aspirations, and ended up just about where you'd figure, given that combination.
Let's start by rewinding. Coming off the 2024 season, the Steelers took a hard look at the 2025 NFL Draft class, squinted hard at their own draft position and relative lack of capital, and decided that it wasn't the year to take a big swing at the quarterback position.
That thought eventually led them to signing Aaron Rodgers at quarterback — the stop-gap of all stop-gaps at 41 years old.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a game against the Houston Texans on Jan. 12, 2026. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
At the same time, the allure of the 2026 NFL Draft class at the quarterback position was strong. Promised to be a strong class, the Steelers used one hand to load up on draft capital in the upcoming selection, intentionally limiting the team's free agent acquisitions and trading away George Pickens for draft picks in order to bolster the team's stockpile to an impressive 12 picks, with five of the them in the top 100.
But the Steelers weren't solely future-leaning. While in the middle of a big-picture rebuild, they also made moves to win now, as well, adding veterans DK Metcalf , Jalen Ramsey , Darius Slay and Jonnu Smith to the picture.
From the big picture perspective, the Steelers were trying to do two things at the same time — win a playoff game, and put themselves in position to draft a quarterback this coming April.
They failed at the first. The second is on thin ice.
The 2026 NFL Draft quarterback class did not materialize as it looked like it might. While there is top talent, it does not currently appear that either of the top two players will be available to them, even if they tried to trade up.
Alabama's Ty Simpson might be the lone way they can fulfill their ideal of drafting a quarterback, and he's both far from a sure thing and far from a sure thing to be available when they select at No. 21 overall.
They're staring at the possibility of having the draft capital they need to move up to get a quarterback, only for that quarterback to not be there. Then what? I have no idea. I suppose they could pivot to wide receiver. God knows they need one of them, too. Rodgers spent most of Monday night staring at black jerseys completely blanketed by white-clad defensive backs.
But while it's easy enough to pivot to wide receiver in what could be a good first round to land one, the problem of how they both continue to put a competitive team on the field, while also being able to draft a quarterback, was supposed to be solved by the surplus of draft picks this year. It's awfully hard to kick those down the road, and they functionally can't recreate the circumstances that led to them getting four comp picks.
If it's wide receiver in the draft, what happens at the quarterback position? Another bridge year? There are scant few options out there. Malik Willis might be one. Daniel Jones ? That's uninspiring. Kirk Cousins ? Even worse.
There have been reports out there that the Steelers would welcome Rodgers back if he wants to return in 2026, and given the other options, and the uncertainty of their ability to land one in the draft, it's hard to say that's a terrible idea.
It's also hard to watch Rodgers melt down in two of the last three games of the season, under pressure from quality defenses, unable to move in the pocket, barely able to protect himself, and largely incapable of finding his former magic on a consistent basis, and then running back for another year.
Against Houston, Rodgers was 17 of 33 for 146 and one interception. He was sacked four times and had a passer rating of 50.8. Two weeks before against Cleveland , he was 21 of 39 for 168 yards, was sacked twice and had a 64.9 passer rating.
In between, he had his best game of the season against the Baltimore Ravens . Rodgers finished the regular season 14th in passer rating, 18th in adjusted net yards per attempt, and 22nd in EPA per play. That's an average to slightly below average quarterback.
After what happened here, I just don't see how this team can look at a one-year-older Rodgers as the answer that's finally going to break down the door in the postseason in 2026. I also don't see a better answer.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin after a playoff game against the Houston Texans on Jan. 12, 2026. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
And it probably won't come via improved coaching, either. There is always a chance that Mike Tomlin will decide he wants to step down — and maybe the above-laid-out dilemma will impact his thought process. But I doubt it. Tomlin is a coaching lifer. He doesn't want to do television, and this is as good of a job as there is in coaching. Why would he ever want to leave it?
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who did not have a good playoff game, either, is under contract for 2026, and it's just as hard to image that he won't be back. Smith is a head-coach candidate for the Tennessee Titans . He hasn't been a hot name in this cycle, so it seems unlikely he'll get poached, but it's just as unlikely that the Steelers will want to move on from him. Figure Smith likely to return alongside Tomlin.
So how do the Steelers get better? How do they get from where they are and where they have been, to where they want to go?
Since the team hired Omar Khan and brought in Andy Weidl, the vision has been relatively easy to see and straightforward to execute. Instead of the abortive attempt at the end of Kevin Colbert's tenure that drafted several carts, but no horses, the team was rebuilding from the trenches out, first on the offensive line, then the defense.
Pittsburgh Steelers assistant general manger Andy Weidl and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith at practice on Aug. 23, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
This should be the year they transition to quarterback. If they can't, they're going to be truly stuck. They're not a bad team. The Steelers won 10 games and the AFC North . That's nothing to sneeze at. It's also hard to quickly make a team that good into one that's bad enough to get into top-quarterback-drafting range.
To get to expected No. 2 quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft class Dante Moore , the Steelers would have had to lose a whopping eight more games than they did this season. Even if a team was trying — and Art Rooney II would never allow outright tanking — it'd be nearly impossible to get that much worse in one offseason.
So a step backward to take a step forward does not seem to be a reasonable path, either. At least not one that doesn't involve repeated years of failure.
The Steelers are in what has become a familiar place in terms of the end result of the season: losing in the Wild Card round for the fifth time in six years.
What's different about this time around is the lack of a clear vision for the future. Tomlin said postgame he wasn't ready to talk big picture about his future. Nobody asked about the team's. It's just as pressing.
For the first time in a long time, there isn't a clear path for the Steelers to get from where they are to where they want to go, and that, more than another playoff loss or fan unease with Tomlin, that is what should really be keeping Rooney up at night.
The 2026 NFL Draft will be in Pittsburgh, but long before we get to selection day, the Steelers need to assess this mess of an offseason and come up with a plan. Will it be a new head coach? Changes at coordinator? Quarterback? All of the above? Somehow none? Good luck selling that one.
In many ways, they're already on the clock, and it's ticking.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Saunders: Uncertain Future Compounds Another Steelers Playoff Failure
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