Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers will be traveling a few thousand miles more from 2024.
The NFL international games schedule is out, meaning teams know where they’ll be playing in the 2025-26 season even if the full order of games won’t be released until May 14.
As a result, the Steelers will be traveling approximately 15,062 miles this season, per Bookies.com’s Bill Speros.
Pittsburgh will have the ninth-least travel miles in the league, crossing 18 time zones. It’s a slight uptick from last season, where the team had the fourth-least miles at just 12,047, crossing 10 time zones.
The major change this season is the Steelers’ Week 4 international game, where Pittsburgh will take on the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland. That game also counts as one of the Steelers’ nine “home” games in 2025.
Have you ever been jet lagged? You’re probably answering “yes” to this question. But the NFL’s Super Bowl teams last season were the Philadelphia Eagles (eighth-most miles), and Kansas City Chiefs (20th-most miles), showing that a good team trumps all.
However, the Steelers did famously struggle more than usual on the West Coast during Ben Roethlisberger’s time with the team. And Pittsburgh is 0-1 in its international regular season game history, falling 34-27 to, ironically, the Vikings in a 2013 London matchup. Switching time zones can play a role.
In short: Don’t make your playoff predictions based solely on this year’s travel numbers — but the Steelers should be pleased that they’re not flying the 37,086 miles (and 42 time zones) that the Los Angeles Chargers will endure in 2025.
