What Stands In The Steelers' Way In 2025? AFC North Preview

AtoZ Sports

Rob Gregson talks about the state of the AFC North, as the Pittsburgh Steelers look to fight through arguably the toughest division in the NFL, to return to the playoffs.

Transcript

00:00The Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 season goals start with winning the division, but we know the AFC

00:05North can be one of the toughest in all of the National Football League. Today, we're going to

00:10break down the other three teams that the Steelers will have to get through to reach their goals.

00:17It all starts with the Baltimore Ravens. Obviously, this is a team who's looking to get over a hump of

00:23not the Pittsburgh Steelers, but winning a Super Bowl. They have Lamar Jackson. They returned

00:28Derrick Henry. They just signed Jair Alexander. They made some great moves in the NFL draft.

00:34The Steelers and Ravens rivalry will be a great one again this year. Obviously, Pittsburgh got

00:40absolutely ran through in the playoffs against the Ravens last season. They ran for almost 300

00:47rushing yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers, they took that personally. They went

00:52into the NFL draft, and they drafted a ton of big defenders to stop that from happening. Derrick

00:58Harmon, Yaya Black, Jack Sawyer, you name it, they believe that they are going to be a better run

01:04stuffing team, and that is primarily because of the Baltimore Ravens. Then, you have the Cincinnati

01:10Bengals. Obviously, they locked up both Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason. Who knows who's

01:16going to play defense for the Bengals? And for the Steelers, that should be a shootout of a game,

01:20given the fact that they haven't signed Trey Hendrickson as of this recording, and they haven't

01:25signed their rookie, Shamar Stewart, but they have Joe Burrow. They have two of the best wide receivers

01:30in the league. They have a solid offensive line. They are going to be a significant factor, not only

01:35in the AFC North, but in the entire AFC if they can overcome their slow starts and obviously injuries

01:43to Joe Burrow and the core of their offense. After that, the Browns, and I hate to say it,

01:49but the Browns are the Browns. I'm not sure that the Cleveland Browns even know who they are going

01:53to be starting at quarterback. You have Dylan Gabriel, you have Joe Flacco, you have Kenny

01:58Pickett, you have Shadur Sanders. Who the heck is going to be the starting quarterback come week one?

02:02Your guess is as good as mine. The roster is just not in a great place right now. Obviously,

02:06they traded out of the second overall pick to take Mason Graham. The team, on paper, is young,

02:12unproven, and there are major questions looming at the quarterback position, so I doubt that they

02:17will be a thorn in the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that is the state of the division.

02:22The Steelers, obviously we know they have completely redone their offense. No George Pickens. Every

02:28quarterback that they had last season is gone. Broderick Jones moves to left tackle, likely to be a

02:33new starting running back, and then they have a defense that they believe is a Super Bowl caliber,

02:39Super Bowl winning kind of defense. So that is the state of the AFC North. Those are the teams

02:45that the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to go through if they want to reach their goals.

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