The Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 season, by the numbers

As we anticipate the opening of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp in about a month, let’s discuss some key numbers we should keep in mind for the upcoming season.

1: The number of interceptions Minkah Fitzpatrick has produced the past two seasons, after nabbing 17 his first four years in Pittsburgh. Fitzpatrick’s decline in this area has been linked to his changing role in the defense, as he’s been used more as a safety valve and less as a playmaker the past two years. The Steelers talked a lot this off-season about returning Fitzpatrick to a more dynamic role, which could put some splash back in his game.

8: The number of consecutive seasons the Steelers have gone without winning a playoff game. Mike Tomlin isn’t on any sort of hot seat, but you have to wonder how long that streak can continue until he will be.

8: Also, the jersey number new starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers will wear this season. Is this an omen of some sort? A good one? A bad one? I feel this is a topic for Pat McAfee.

8.5: Pittsburgh’s projected win total on many of the sports books taking bets for 2025. That would be enough to keep Tomlin’s streak of consecutive non-losing seasons alive, but not enough to remedy the problem of the previous number.

10: Pittsburgh’s strength of schedule ranking for 2025. Their opponents had a collective winning percentage of .526 last season. The schedule is challenging but contains nothing like the late-season stretch from a year ago, when they played Philly, Baltimore and Kansas City in an eleven-day span in December.

11: Number of interceptions Rodgers threw last season with the Jets, which was the third-highest total of his career. Tomlin hates turnovers like my wife hates beans. But the Steelers can’t totally confine Rodgers to the role of game manager. They’ll need to find the right balance between allowing him to attack versus minimizing risk in their passing game.

12: Arthur Smith’s favorite personnel group, which consists of one back, two tight ends and two receivers. The Steelers weren’t great from 12-personnel last season, registering one of the lowest EPA’s in the league when they operated from that grouping. Rodgers loves 11-personnel, which subs out a tight end for an extra receiver. Which philosophy will the Steelers gravitate to? This will be fascinating.

22.4: Steelers’ points-per-game last season, which was their highest total since 2020. However, the team failed to score more than 17 points in each of its final five games, all of which were losses. Bottom line — they have to score more this season, and the offense can’t regress as the calendar gets late. It’s up to Smith and Rodgers to continue to find wrinkles to keep defenses at bay.

35: Number of games missed by Steelers’ offensive linemen due to injury last season. Troy Fautanu missed 16 games, James Daniels missed 13, Isaac Seumalo missed four and Zach Frazier missed two. That was one of the biggest reasons why Pittsburgh was 26th in the league in rushing yards-per-attempt. Smith wants to run the ball, but to build the chemistry necessary to do it well, he’ll need the line to stay healthy.

40: The number of explosive plays (25 yards or more) the Steelers produced a year ago, which ranked seventh-best in the NFL. DK Metcalf will be crucial to replicating that success, as he replaces the team’s main source of explosives, George Pickens.

40: Also the number of sacks the Steelers had last season, which was their lowest total since 2016. T.J. Watt seemed to wear out down the stretch, and the Steelers struggled to get to the quarterback without his production. The Pittsburgh defense often starts with its pass rush. That needs to be the case again this year.

40: One more with the number 40. This is the average annual salary, in millions of dollars per year, that Myles Garrett will be paid by the Cleveland Browns over the next four seasons. Why is this important? Because it’s in the neighborhood of what the Steelers will have to offer Watt to sign him to the contract extension he’s seeking. That’s a lot of money for a pass rusher who just turned 30. But given Watt’s value to the Steelers, it’s an offer they should make without thinking twice.

41: Number of field goals by kicker Chris Boswell last season, which was the most in the league. Boswell was fantastic, and the Steelers are fortunate to have him. But hopefully they will rely on him less this season by being more proficient at scoring touchdowns.

46: Speaking of, this is number of passing touchdowns the Steelers have amassed since 2022. That’s the lowest total in the league over that time, and something I wrote about on Tuesday. It would be nice to have more touchdown passes this year. Much of that will rely on Rodgers, especially in the red zone, where the Steelers have been bad as of late. They’ll need to get more production out of Darnell Washington in this area, and to use the shifty Kenneth Gainwell in the passing game, where he’ll be a mismatch against most linebackers in coverage.

The Steelers are last in the NFL in TD passes, and here’s why

299: Number of rushing yards the Ravens hung on Pittsburgh in their Wild Card win over the Steelers last season. It felt embarrassing just typing that number. How must it feel to Pittsburgh defenders knowing they gave it up? The Steelers addressed this by making a slew of moves this off-season to bolster the run defense. Have they done enough to slow the Ravens? We’ll know that answer soon enough…

For more of my work, follow me on X @KTSmithFFSN, and tune into my “Call Sheet Daily” podcast, which airs every Monday-Friday on most major platforms. You can catch me on “Here We Go, The Steelers Show” every Monday with Bryan Anthony Davis as well.