The 2025-26 NFL schedule is out, and it’s a thing of beauty. As the saying goes, the NFL doesn’t miss — and this year’s schedule is no exception.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, who are still waiting on Aaron Rodgers, will open their season on the road against his former team in New York. But the highlight of their 2025 slate is the international game in Ireland, and Steelers owner Art Rooney II is pretty excited about it.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Art Rooney II Reveals His One Complaint
The Steelers will travel to Dublin, Ireland, for just the second international regular-season game in franchise history on Sept. 28. They’ll face the Minnesota Vikings, and Rooney is all in on the moment.
“The Dublin game is the headline of the schedule itself… We had a little bit of input, not a lot in terms of the date and our opponent in Ireland,” said Rooney, “but we’re happy with how the game fell (on the schedule) and where it falls on the calendar. And the great thing is that the ticket demand is already through the roof. We’re going to have a great Steelers crowd in Dublin.”
While Rooney is mostly satisfied with how the schedule turned out, he did have one gripe — the late-night West Coast game.
“I think the only complaint I have is a night game on the West Coast is something I prefer to avoid, and we got one of those this year, so these things happen,” Rooney said.
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That West Coast night game comes in Week 10 when Pittsburgh visits the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football. It’ll be the third of their four prime-time games this season, but one area where the team got a bit of a break is in the way the division matchups are spread out.
“I like to have them a little more spread out than what we had last year,” Rooney said. “I thought last year was a little too much at the end of the season, and so I like the way the division games fall this year a little better.”
Last year, the Steelers didn’t face a division opponent until Week 11 and had to play four straight AFC North games late in the season. This year, they’ll get three of those matchups between Weeks 6–11 — home against the Cleveland Browns, away vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, and then hosting the Bengals.
The remaining three division games are spread out between Weeks 14–18 — away vs. the Baltimore Ravens, at Cleveland, and the season finale at home against the Ravens at Acrisure Stadium.
Rooney didn’t comment on the quarterback situation, but the consensus is the Steelers are confident four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers will join them. However, no deal is in place yet. If Rodgers doesn’t land in Pittsburgh, Justin Fields will likely go head-to-head with Mason Rudolph in Week 1.
