The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2025 season comes down to one game: a Week 18 Sunday Night Football showdown against the rival Baltimore Ravens. Win, and the Steelers' season continues, as they'll clinch their first AFC North title since 2020, and advance to play playoff football. The stakes couldn't be higher, and after playing their best football of the season with wins over the Ravens, Miami Dolphins, and Detroit Lions, the Steelers took several steps back in their deflating Week 17 loss to the lowly Cleveland Browns. That version of the Steelers cannot take the field on Sunday night, or the Steelers' season will be over.
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Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) on the run during a Week 6 matchup with the Browns in Pittsburgh, PA.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, they will once again be without star receiver DK Metcalf, who will be serving the final game of his two-game suspension after an altercation with a fan during the Steelers' Week 16 win against the Lions. Despite their poor record, the Browns do have one of the better defenses in the league. That said, many of the Steelers' struggles in their Week 17 loss to the Browns can be attributed to Metcalf's absence.
Without Metcalf, the Browns' defense focused on limiting the Steelers' remaining skill players from beating them deep, and the Steelers' offense struggled as a result, failing to score a touchdown in the 13-6 defeat. Ahead of their Week 18 must-win game vs the Ravens, Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger thinks he has the answer to the Steelers' problems, as he discussed via his podcast Footbahlin earlier this week.
"No one throws 88 the ball," said Roethlisberger.
88 is Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth. Freiermuth actually had a very effective game vs the Browns, with three receptions for 63 yards on five targets, but Roethlisberger raises a good question: why was Freiermuth not involved more without Metcalf? Of the 39 pass attempts Aaron Rodgers had vs the Browns, only five of them went Freiermuth's way.
Freiermuth was tied for fourth in targets on the Steelers, behind receivers Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Adam Thielen, and Scotty Miller, while tied with fellow tight end Jonnu Smith. Freiermuth was arguably the most effective pass catcher on the Steelers, and his ability to get the crowd hyped up with the "Muth" chants might be exactly what the Steelers need to get their home crowd involved early and often against the Ravens on Sunday.
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Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) jogs on the field with a football as the team works out during a 2025 training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Freiermuth and Rodgers have not had a great connection thus far in 2025. Freiermuth is having a down season by his standards, with just 38 receptions and 435 yards, after having 65 receptions for 653 yards last season. The Steelers will need the Freiermuth of the past if they want to get their offense going against the Ravens.
In the Steelers' Week 14 victory against the Ravens, Metcalf was the star, with seven receptions for 148 yards in the Steelers' 27-22 win. Without Metcalf, it will have to be a different type of offensive attack, as the explosive sideline plays will be much harder to come by. Roethlisberger has seen what Freiermuth can do in a Steelers uniform. Rodgers has to trust the veteran tight end on Sunday night to be his security blanket, especially without Metcalf.
Steelers' Pat Freiermuth Is The Key To Unlocking Pittsburgh's Offense
Without Metcalf, the Steelers' red zone offense takes a significant blow as well. Metcalf has six touchdowns on the season and takes up so much attention from the defense due to his 6′4″ frame.
In their Week 17 defeat to the Browns, the Steelers targeted Valdes-Scantling three consecutive times against Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, without success on any of those attempts. What Metcalf brings to the game cannot seemingly be replicated by another receiver on the Steelers roster currently. As Roethlisberger said, 88 needs the ball.
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Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) during a game against the Bengals in Ohio.
The Steelers' playoff hopes seemed like a sure thing as of a week ago, with the Ravens as high as +1100 to win the AFC North on FanDuel, but nothing is for sure in the NFL. If the Steelers win their Week 18 clash with the Ravens, their disaster against the Browns will likely be forgotten.
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