Steelers Admit To Making Same Critical Mistake As The Past That Will Ultimately Hurt The Organization

The Pittsburgh Steelers have an interesting season coming up in 2025 as the organization does not currently have a reliable starting quarterback on the roster. The franchise is waiting on a decision from veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers about what he wants to do with his future, but there is a strong chance that this could be the year that Head Coach Mike Tomlin experiences his first ever losing season as a head coach in the NFL. One of the games that will play a big role in that comes in Week 4 when the Steelers travel to Ireland where they will take on the Minnesota Vikings.

This will not be the first time the Steelers will be taking on the Vikings overseas. The two sides clashed in London back during the 2013 season, and the Vikings came out victorious as they beat the Steelers by a score of 34-27. 

The final score makes the game sound closer than it was, but in reality the score was 34-17 going into the fourth quarter. The Steelers were sluggish in the game, and a lot of that had to do with poor scheduling when it came to the international travel as well as poor planning around the game as a whole.

Poor planning led to a poor Performance from Pittsburgh in 2013, and it sounds like fans should expect more of the same during the 2025 season. Team President Art Rooney II spoke on Wednesday, and he shared that he believes the team is planning to travel in the same way as it did back in 2013, which is completely ridiculous.

"From our point of view, I don't think a lot has changed." Rooney said. "I think we're planning to leave similar to what we did for the last international trip [in London]. Probably leave on Thursday and practice there on Friday and Saturday and have the game on Sunday and fly out Sunday night. I don't think it'll be too much different from the last trip."

The travel and planning around the trip for these international games is extremely important, mainly due to the time change. Players need time to get adjusted to the time change, and teams also need time to practice and prepare for the game upon arrival. This is why most teams that travel internationally try to leave earlier in the week.

Pittsburgh left late in the week for their loss against the Vikings back in 2013 in London, and now the organization is planning to do the same thing again. It is as if the organization has not learned any sort of lesson, which actually makes perfect sense. The organization goes year after year of doing the same things in different ways and expecting different results, and those results do not come. 

Players have spoken out about how poorly that 2013 game against Minnesota went. Defensive leader Cam Heyward has spoken recently about how bad the trip was in 2013, as the veteran stated that coaches and players were falling asleep in meetings prior to the contest. Now, the organization is planning to follow that same plan. It is truly genius.

Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger Was Also Critical Over Plan In 2013

Former Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has also spoken about how poor the approach to the London game in 2013 was. He was outplayed by Matt Cassel in the game, which is completely outrageous and can probably be blamed on the poor travel plans. 

The Steelers need to focus on getting the players and coaching staff acclimated to the time overseas, which is why the franchise needs to leave earlier in the week on either Monday or Tuesday. If the Steelers follow the same plan that they did in 2013, then fans should expect the same result when the time comes in Week 4.

What do you think about the Steelers learning nothing from their last time traveling overseas? Let us know in the comments below!

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