Sources: Steelers expect to play 2025 regular season game in Ireland

Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 29, 2024

Published in Football

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PITTSBURGH — The Steelers are expecting to play a regular season game in Ireland in 2025, their first international game in 12 years, according to team sources.

Because the Steelers have nine home games in 2025, it is likely one of those games will be in Ireland.

It would be the team's first international game since they lost to the Minnesota Vikings in London in Week 4 of the 2013 season.

The NFL could make the announcement in the next couple weeks. This year, they announced the teams who would play international games — Chicago, Jacksonville, Minnesota and Carolina — on Jan. 11, 2024. The opponent and date would not be announced until the 2025 NFL schedule is released in the spring.

The Steelers' association with Ireland goes beyond the global licensing agreement they have with the European country. The Rooney family has strong Irish ties, and Dan Rooney, the team's late owner/chairman, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland from 2009-2012.

Ireland is one of three countries in which the Steelers have a Global Markets Program license, along with Mexico and Germany. The license allows the team to participate in corporate sponsorship and merchandise sales in those countries, in addition to conducting in-person activities such as fan and youth football activities.

The Steelers' 2025 home schedule includes games against the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, in addition to the three AFC North opponents. They also will play the corresponding team in the division standings from the AFC South and NFC West.

As of right now, that would be the second-place teams — Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks — but that could change depending what happens in the final week of the regular season.

Because the Steelers could be designated as the home team, they would be required to arrive in Ireland early in the week. When they played the Vikings in 2013, the Steelers were considered the road team and did not arrive in London until early Friday morning. Several players complained of jet lag and tired legs after a 34-27 loss to the Vikings, saying their bodies didn't have enough time to adjust to the five-hour time difference.

NFL rules require the designated home team for each international game to have their home stadium reserved for use in the event that a game cannot be played at the international site.

Decembers to forget

December has not been a good month recently for the Steelers, not since Mike Tomlin uttered his ill-timed "going to unleash hell in December" remark in the 2009 season.

After consecutive losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs in an 11-day span, it marked the fourth time in the past six years the Steelers have lost three consecutive games in December. It is the fifth time in the past seven years they have lost three in a row after Thanksgiving.

Those losing streaks caused them to miss the postseason in 2018 and 2019.

If they don't beat the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, it will be the first time since 1999 they ended the regular season with at least four consecutive losses.

The Bengals have won four in a row since a 44-38 loss to the Steelers on Dec. 1 and still retain hope they can make the postseason. They are averaging 32.25 points in their past eight games.

But the Steelers had their best offensive performance of the season in the first meeting. They had 520 yards offense, 28 first downs and their most points in six years.

"The adversity can break you down," said quarterback Russell Wilson, who threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns in Cincinnati. "The adversity can challenge you in such a way that you start thinking negatively, start speaking negatively, start thinking, 'Woe is me.' Or the adversity can challenge you in such a way that there's growth, and then adversity can challenge you in such a way that you try to find the next moment."