Steelers, Bengals and Cowboys among teams under the most pressure to succeed in the 2025 NFL season

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With NFL training camps about to kick off, now is the time to spin optimistic dreams of what your favorite team can accomplish — before the pressure cooker of the season brings the consequences of potential failure into sharp relief.

Every team is facing expectations of some kind, but some will be feeling more heat than others. To identify the franchises that will be under the most pressure in 2025, I considered multiple factors, including competitive windows, playoff droughts and — though this required a good amount of projection on my part — fan expectations. In the end, this is a vibes-based exercise, but my basic criteria was to search for the teams that would suffer the most dire consequences should they face a worst-case scenario this season, whether that means missing out on one last opportunity to win or setting a roster-building timeline back years.

Even though they are always somehow elbowing their way into contention, the Steelers just have the feel of a .500 team, perpetually competitive without being compelling, patching together just enough success to keep a hard re-set at bay — only to flame out at the first chance in the playoffs, where they are 0-5 since 2017.

This offseason, though, they might have pushed themselves as close to boom-or-bust territory as they’ve been under Mike Tomlin, at least in recent memory, with a flurry of moves ultimately hinging on the geriatric quarterbacking ability of one man:              Aaron Rodgers              . If Rodgers plays like an all-star or even a better-than-replacement-level QB, this outfit could round into a legitimate Super Bowl threat, with              DK Metcalf              ,              Jonnu Smith              and Kaleb Johnson bringing needed juice to the offense. It’s a distinct possibility, especially another year removed from the 2023 Achilles tear that ruined Rodgers’ Jets debut. On the other hand, if Rodgers flops in his age-42 season (another distinct possibility), it’s hard to see Pittsburgh pulling off another inexplicable winning effort, with              Mason Rudolph              and rookie Will Howard likely to be the only other QBs standing between the Steelers and ruination. And that’s setting aside a defense that has not finished in the top five in points or yards allowed since 2020, and whose star pass rusher (              T.J. Watt              , who will presumably eventually land an extension soon) and shiny new cornerback (              Jalen Ramsey              ) are both on the wrong side of 30. It seems like they have finally, truly put their backs against the wall.

The reward could be worth it, if it means the Steelers get to experience playoff joy once again. The cost could be suffering through the first honest-to-goodness non-competitive season since Tomlin took over in 2007. (Which could, in turn, prompt a deck-clearing to more fully rejuvenate the roster, but this is not a ranking of brightest silver linings, now, is it?)

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