All things being equal, though, they’d probably prefer to get an off week closer to midseason.

Clumped prime-time games — Three of the four on the schedule come in a four-week span between Oct. 16 and Nov. 9. While it may not matter much for the team and its players, fans will have to stay up late for the Thursday night game against the Bengals in Week 7, the Sunday night game against the Packers in Week 8 and the Sunday night game against the Chargers in Week 10. If there’s a saving grace, it’s that just one of those three is a home game. The Steelers also have just two prime-time home games all year, saving fans late nights having to fight their way out of North Shore parking traffic. Still, it won’t be a pleasant stretch if you’re an early riser for work the following mornings.

A lot of early travel — The Steelers will get just one game at Acrisure Stadium before Week 6, and just two through the month of October. The three non-Ireland road trips in that span are manageable in terms of mileage. New York, New England and Cincinnati are all close by. But these generally will not be friendly environments for a team looking to integrate not just the young players of this year’s draft and free agent classes, but guys like Roman Wilson and Troy Fautanu, who missed the bulk of their rookie season in 2024 with injuries.