Steelers' Art Rooney II will be watching to see if Chiefs or Eagles offense is one to emulate in 2025

The Super Bowl matchup next weekend between Kansas City and Philadelphia presents a clash of offensive styles that is as contrasting as the quarterbacks who run them.

The Chiefs rely on the right arm of Patrick Mahomes, a two-time MVP who is gunning for a record third consecutive championship and his fourth since entering the NFL in 2017.

The Eagles prefer to run the football whether it’s behind NFL rushing leader Saquon Barkley or using the legs of quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Watching this Super Bowl rematch from just two years ago will be Pittsburgh Steelers team president Art Rooney II, who is searching for an offensive identity that will help his franchise find success in the playoffs.

“It’s interesting we have two teams in the Super Bowl with such different styles,” Rooney said last week when he held his season wrap-up interview with reporters. “It shows you can win with more than one approach.”

As any Steelers fan knows, no approach has led to a playoff victory since the 2016 postseason. A 28-14 loss to Baltimore in the wild-card round this year extended the drought to eight seasons, the longest the franchise has gone without a postseason win in the Super Bowl era.

The Steelers won two Super Bowl titles and appeared in another game early in Ben Roethlisberger’s career. But with Roethlisberger under center, the Steelers were stunned in home playoff losses by Jacksonville in 2017 and Cleveland in 2020.

Roethlisberger’s career ended in 2021 with a first-round loss at Kansas City, and the Steelers lost as a wild-card entry in 2023 with Mason Rudolph at quarterback and this season with Russell Wilson having the honors.

Rooney said the most important decision the Steelers will make in the offseason will be deciding whether to re-sign Wilson or six-game starter Justin Fields before free agency starts in March. The Steelers also have an impending free agent in four-time 1,000-yard rusher Najee Harris and lack a proven No. 2 wide receiver. Those positions could be targets in free agency.

How the Steelers reshape the roster will indicate whether they think they can emulate the Chiefs or Eagles — or a combination of both.

“I think the bottom line is you’ve got to try to win with the talent you have in the building,” Rooney said. “They have two different kinds of talent in their buildings. So it will be an interesting game. We’ve got to build on the strengths that we can put together in our room. And I still think that running the ball is a route to success, particularly when you’re playing without a roof and outside.”

The Steelers tried centering their offense around a running game in Arthur Smith’s first year as offensive coordinator. They tied for the third-most rushing attempts in 2024, running the ball an average of 31.4 times per game. The team that had the most carries? The Eagles, who averaged 36.5 carries and ranked second behind the Ravens by averaging 179.3 rushing yards.

For all the intent the Steelers had at developing the run, they ranked No. 11 in rushing yards. They also didn’t have a dominating runner like Barkley in the backfield. Signed away from the New York Giants in free agency, Barkley led the NFL with 2,005 yards rushing in his first year with the Eagles.

Harris, for all his consistency in four seasons, never topped 1,200.

“Najee is a good player, and we’ll evaluate whether we can bring him back,” Rooney said. “He’s going to have choices, too. It’s a position I think is important to us. Obviously, it’s important to some other teams that have had success this year, so maybe (the position) is not as devalued as some might have thought.

“We have a job opening in that room that we’re going to have to fill. Whether it’s Najee or somebody else, it’s going to be an important position.”

Barkley was hardly a one-man wrecking crew for the Eagles. Hurts rushed for 630 yards and scored 14 touchdowns, many on the Eagles’ vaunted tush-push play in short-yardage situations.

Fields had 231 yards rushing and a team-high five rushing touchdowns before Wilson took over at quarterback in Week 7.

Hurts also minimized his passing mistakes, much the way Fields and Wilson did for the Steelers. They combined to throw six interceptions, one more than Hurts tossed in leading the Eagles to a 12-3 record as starter. He also finished fifth in the NFL in passer rating — 10 spots ahead of his counterpart next Sunday.

Mahomes had 3,928 yards passing, which ranked No. 7 in the league, and he threw 26 touchdown passes against 11 interceptions. Although he had more turnovers than Hurts, Mahomes was 15-1 as a starter in the regular season, and he has won nine consecutive playoff starts.

The Chiefs traded up 17 spots to select Mahomes with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 draft. The Steelers hold the No. 21 pick this season and may have to make a similar deal if they want to land one of the top quarterback prospects.

As much as Steelers coach Mike Tomlin seeks mobility in a quarterback, Rooney believes an ability to read NFL defenses is a trait that can’t be overlooked at the position.

“Get the team in a play that is good against the defense he’s looking at,” Rooney said. “No matter if he’s mobile or not, that’s what you’ve got to start with.”

Given Rooney’s preference to have a balanced running game, it’s unlikely the Steelers would follow the Chiefs’ model no matter who is at quarterback in 2025. Behind Mahomes, Kansas City attempted the sixth-most passes in the NFL in 2024 after finishing in the top five in each of the previous four seasons.

The pass-heavy approach came at the expense of the running game. The Chiefs’ leading rusher in 2024 was Kareem Hunt, who had 728 yards to rank No. 31 in the league. He averaged just 3.6 yards per attempt.

The Steelers have ranked No. 29 in pass attempts in each of the past two seasons, and Rooney appears to have no interest in a return to 2020 when Roethlisberger and the Steelers led the NFL in attempts.

“I certainly hope we continue to have a running game as one of our strengths,” he said. “But the bottom line is we want to have an offense that can take advantage of whatever the defense is giving us. I think that’s kind of the key.”