The 2020 season was the Pittsburgh Steelers' 88th in the National Football League (NFL), their 20th playing home games at Heinz Field, their 21st under general manager Kevin Colbert, and their 14th under head coach Mike Tomlin. The team vastly improved on their 8–8 record from 2019 beginning the season 11–0, a franchise-best. They became the first NFL team to do so since the Carolina Panthers in the 2015 season. However, that streak was broken after a Week 13 loss to the Washington Football Team. The Steelers clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2017 after the Miami Dolphins' Week 14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and clinched their first AFC North title since 2017 with a Week 16 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
The season marked the return of Ben Roethlisberger, who was sidelined for 14 games the season prior. However, despite entering Week 13 at 11–0, the Steelers lost four of their last five games to finish 12–4 and join the 1969 Los Angeles Rams as the only teams in NFL history to go 11–0 and lose 3 consecutive games afterwards. In the playoffs, the Steelers faced the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round, where they were defeated 48–37.
The Steelers swept the Ravens for the first time in three seasons. Their 11–0 start marked the longest the Steelers have gone before their first loss in a season in franchise history. They also went undefeated against the AFC South for the first time in six seasons.
Because the Patriots went 7–9, their first losing season in 20 years, the Steelers ended the year as the only team from 2004 to this year that didn't have a single losing season.
Transactions
The Steelers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020 season:
Trades
Free agent signings
Lost
Acquired
Cuts
Draft
Notes
Pittsburgh traded 2020 first and fifth round selections and a 2021 sixth round selection to Miami in exchange for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2020 fourth round selection. Pittsburgh traded a third-round selection along with 2019 first- and second-round selections to Denver in exchange for Denver's 2019 first-round selection. Jacksonville traded a fifth-round selection to Pittsburgh in exchange for quarterback Joshua Dobbs. Pittsburgh traded a fifth-round selection to Seattle in exchange for tight end Nick Vannett.
Staff
Final roster
Preseason
The Steelers would have played the Dallas Cowboys in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on August 6, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, and the Steelers were to be represented by former head coach Bill Cowher and safeties Troy Polamalu and Donnie Shell. However, the game, the annual Hall of Fame enshrinement and the remainder of the preseason were later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Hall of Fame game between the Steelers and Cowboys was rescheduled for 2021.
Regular season
Schedule
The Steelers' 2020 schedule was announced on May 7.
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at New York Giants
The Steelers started their season on the road against the Giants on Monday Night Football. In the first quarter, the Giants scored first when Graham Gano kicked a 21-yard field goal to make it 3–0. Later on in the quarter, Chris Boswell would tie the game at 3–3 with a 41-yard field goal. The Giants took the lead in the second quarter when Daniel Jones found Darius Slayton on a 41-yard TD pass to make it 10–3. The Steelers responded when Ben Roethlisberger found JuJu Smith-Schuster on a 10-yard TD pass (with a failed PAT) to make the score 10–9. Finally, the Steelers took the lead before halftime when Roethlisberger connected with James Washington on a 13-yard TD pass to make the score 16–10. After a scoreless third quarter, the Steelers got back to work when Boswell kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it 19–10. This was followed up by Roethlisberger connecting with Smith-Schuster again on an 8-yard TD pass to make it 26–10. Finally, the Giants wrapped up the scoring of the game when Jones and Slayton connected again for a 7-yard TD pass to make the final score 26–16.
With the win, the Steelers started their season 1–0. They won their regular season-opening game for the first time since 2017.
In Roethlisberger's first game in 364 days, he went 21 of 32 for 229 yards and 3 touchdown passes, giving him a 117.8 passer rating.
The win was the third straight time that they have beaten the Giants.