2026 Steelers thread

The Steelers have 19 assistant coaches on the staff with at least a tight ends coach remaining to be hired. That would make it the largest staff of assistant coaches the Steelers have ever had.

Now that they’re not overpaying their HC they can afford an NFL caliber coaching staff.

Whether they're overpaying their HC or not remains to be seen. He needs to win some playoff games first. He inherited a playoff caliber team.

Yes, Mike McCarthy has a better playoff record than Mike Tomlin, with McCarthy having 11 playoff wins compared to Tomlin's 8. However, both coaches have won one Super Bowl each.
steelersdepot.com Wikipedia

Oh, McCarthy beat Tomlin in the Superbowl.

Yes, Mike McCarthy has a better playoff record than Mike Tomlin, with McCarthy having 11 playoff wins compared to Tomlin's 8. However, both coaches have won one Super Bowl each.
steelersdepot.com Wikipedia

Oh, McCarthy beat Tomlin in the Superbowl. Originally Posted by bambino

Ancient history. Means nothing now.

McCarthy inherited a playoff caliber team. He needs to win a playoff game in 2026. Until then, jury's still out.

Ancient history. Means nothing now.

McCarthy inherited a playoff caliber team. He needs to win a playoff game in 2026. Until then, jury's still out. Originally Posted by jayzee43

... Huh?? ... The Steelers of today are WHAT?? ...

A play-off calibre team?? ... ... Now THAT's a royal joke.

LOST to Cleveland with a chance to clinch, then woulda LOST
to the Ravens if they didn't miss the FG...

... And got the shit kicked out of 'em in the play-off
game that they shouldn't have even played in. ...

... McCarthy surely needs to RE-BUILD this "great" team.

#### Salty

... Huh?? ... The Steelers of today are WHAT?? ...

A play-off calibre team?? ... ... Now THAT's a royal joke.

LOST to Cleveland with a chance to clinch, then woulda LOST
to the Ravens if they didn't miss the FG...

... And got the shit kicked out of 'em in the play-off
game that they shouldn't have even played in. ...

... McCarthy surely needs to RE-BUILD this "great" team.

#### Salty Originally Posted by Salty Again

If McCarthy is merely COMPETITIVE in a playoff game it’ll be an improvement. He’s already built an NFL caliber coaching staff. On to the draft and free agency to build the roster.

... Huh?? ... The Steelers of today are WHAT?? ...

A play-off calibre team?? ... ... Now THAT's a royal joke.

LOST to Cleveland with a chance to clinch, then woulda LOST
to the Ravens if they didn't miss the FG...

... And got the shit kicked out of 'em in the play-off
game that they shouldn't have even played in. ...

... McCarthy surely needs to RE-BUILD this "great" team.

#### Salty Originally Posted by Salty Again

When a team makes the playoffs, they are (by definition) a playoff caliber team. They also won the division. Try and keep up, Salty. Words mean things.

McCarthy inherited a playoff caliber team. Period.

He needs to win a playoff game in 2026, or expect some boo birds in the stands at Acrisure, and rightfully so.

When a team makes the playoffs, they are (by definition) a playoff caliber team. They also won the division. Try and keep up, Salty. Words mean things.

McCarthy inherited a playoff caliber team. Period.

He needs to win a playoff game in 2026, or expect some boo birds in the stands at Acrisure, and rightfully so. Originally Posted by jayzee43

Yes and no. He inherited a playoff team if in fact the roster
Remains intact, if they lose Roger's or other main players, he did not

U r making an assumption based on current roster

Yes and no. He inherited a playoff team if in fact the roster
Remains intact, if they lose Roger's or other main players, he did not

U r making an assumption based on current roster Originally Posted by oldman2525

He still inherited a playoff caliber team. If he chooses to change the roster, that's on him.

Dick LeBeau says the #Steelers have a "pretty strong" roster, predicts Mike McCarthy leads them to playoff wins

Steelers Legendary Defensive Coach Dick LeBeau praises Steelers Mike McCarthy hire: “I think he’s an excellent coach. He’s had a lot of good success, a lot of good experience. Most of coaching is your own personal experience and learning from your mistakes. Like it is for anybody that does any job. That first or second year you’re on that job, you’re probably not going to be as good at it as if you’ve been on it for 20 years. And I think that McCarthy certainly has the experience and the track record to know what to do.” #Steelers #NFL

"I’m very optimistic for the Steelers."


https://x.com/alex_kozora/status/202...345459641?s=42

Art Rooney II says both Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers will have to sit down and meet if a Rodgers reunion will happen: “We don't know what Aaron is thinking right now, so we don't want to jump to conclusions until we know that and we don't want to jump to conclusions until Mike and Aaron have a chance to really sit down and talk about how they would feel about working together for another year. So there's more to come on that front. Let's put it that way.” #Steelers #NFL

He still inherited a playoff caliber team. If he chooses to change the roster, that's on him. Originally Posted by jayzee43

If Rodgers retires, that ain't on the new coach and then he did not inherit a playoff caliber er team

Again u make an assumption based on last year's roster

If Rodgers retires, that ain't on the new coach and then he did not inherit a playoff caliber er team

Again u make an assumption based on last year's roster Originally Posted by oldman2525

Well, let’s be honest, if Burrow and Jackson didn’t miss most of the year, the Steelers don’t make the playoffs. Ok, they made the playoffs, but got destroyed in the first game, again. They’re closer to the bottom five teams than they are the top 5 teams. Rodgers only beat one playoff team, the Patriots. But they fumbled 4 times. I do think they’ll look better this year on both sides of the ball. Time will tell.

Steelers ranked 26th in total defense last year

NFL Team Regular Season Defense Rankings

Total Defense

# TEAM DEFENSE YARDS AVG. PLAYOFF AVG. TD ALLOWED PLAYOFF TD
1 Texans 277.2 211.5 35 4
2 Broncos 278.2 327.5 29 4
3 Vikings 282.6 - 32 -
4 Browns 283.6 - 43 -
5 Chargers 285.2 381 35 1
6 Seahawks 285.9 357.5 31 3
7 Bills 293.1 354 43 6
8 Patriots 295.2 209.7 38 2
9 Saints 299.8 - 39 -
10 Chiefs 301.5 - 33 -
11 Jaguars 303.6 340 40 3
12 Packers 311.8 445 39 3
13 Eagles 314.2 361 34 3
14 Raiders 317.8 - 49 -
15 Falcons 326.6 - 43 -
16 Panthers 327.2 411 42 4
17 Rams 327.5 382 38 10
18 Lions 331.9 - 47 -
19 Buccaneers 337.2 - 49 -
20 49ers 340.2 294 44 7
21 Titans 345.1 - 55 -
22 Dolphins 348.8 - 50 -
23 Colts 349.8 - 42 -
24 Ravens 354.5 - 42 -
25 Jets 355.6 - 57 -
26 Steelers 356.9 408 42 4
27 Cardinals 357.7 - 55 -
28 Giants 359.5 - 49 -
29 Bears 361.8 380.5 49 6
30 Cowboys 377 - 59 -
31 Bengals 380.9 - 60 -
32 Commanders 384.3 - 52 -

They ranked 15th on offense

GlossaryToggle Per-Game Stats
Tot Yds & TO Passing Rushing Penalties
Rk Tm G PF Yds Ply Y/P TO FL 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD Pen Yds 1stPy Sc% TO% EXP
1 Los Angeles Rams 17 518 6709 1086 6.2 15 7 396 388 598 4557 46 8 7.3 236 465 2152 17 4.6 126 75 573 34 47.0 8.3 219.88
2 New England Patriots 17 490 6449 1044 6.2 16 8 360 361 502 4258 31 8 7.7 206 494 2191 22 4.4 128 99 854 26 46.0 9.2 195.86
3 Seattle Seahawks 17 483 5973 1015 5.9 28 13 340 325 481 3877 25 15 7.6 179 507 2096 19 4.1 125 100 793 36 45.9 14.2 80.50
4 Buffalo Bills 17 481 6397 1082 5.9 19 9 374 344 495 3683 29 10 6.9 196 547 2714 30 5.0 146 101 848 32 44.8 10.3 186.79
5 Detroit Lions 17 481 6344 1063 6.0 15 7 346 394 582 4303 35 8 6.9 224 442 2041 21 4.6 105 104 718 17 44.4 8.0 162.06
6 Jacksonville Jaguars 17 474 5735 1093 5.2 18 6 356 344 563 3779 29 12 6.3 196 489 1956 22 4.0 124 128 1080 36 42.9 9.5 74.21
7 Dallas Cowboys 17 471 6663 1120 5.9 21 9 393 419 624 4527 31 12 6.9 229 465 2136 18 4.6 120 133 1136 44 48.0 11.9 180.41
8 Indianapolis Colts 17 466 5880 1018 5.8 23 9 352 360 547 3873 25 14 6.7 199 442 2007 27 4.5 122 104 870 31 49.4 12.4 135.41
9 Chicago Bears 17 441 6282 1103 5.7 11 4 358 334 574 3826 28 7 6.4 190 505 2456 19 4.9 142 120 970 26 43.7 6.0 117.89
10 San Francisco 49ers 17 437 5974 1082 5.5 22 6 379 398 574 4157 33 16 6.9 237 481 1817 15 3.8 119 83 651 23 47.6 12.9 131.06
11 Baltimore Ravens 17 424 5647 974 5.8 23 12 314 278 422 2985 23 11 6.4 141 507 2662 23 5.3 146 99 746 27 42.7 12.4 82.25
12 Cincinnati Bengals 17 414 5596 1057 5.3 24 7 352 412 640 4005 36 17 5.9 213 381 1591 11 4.2 102 88 633 37 40.2 13.4 43.30
13 Houston Texans 17 404 5559 1088 5.1 12 3 323 364 582 3707 24 9 6.0 184 475 1852 9 3.9 99 118 989 40 42.9 5.8 42.13
14 Denver Broncos 17 401 5825 1092 5.3 17 6 334 388 613 3807 25 11 6.0 196 456 2018 18 4.4 111 124 1149 27 37.8 8.0 85.81
15 Pittsburgh Steelers 17 397 5196 988 5.3 15 6 301 365 550 3440 26 9 5.9 160 407 1756 16 4.3 109 101 803 32 39.0 7.9 63.15
16 Green Bay Packers 17 391 5654 1010 5.6 13 6 334 328 489 3617 26 7 7.0 180 492 2037 18 4.1 124 105 818 30 43.4 7.8 151.08
17 New York Giants 17 381 5669 1085 5.2 17 7 347 323 526 3474 21 10 6.1 160 511 2195 22 4.3 141 128 1075 46 38.8 9.4 75.75
18 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 380 5447 1068 5.1 16 5 332 351 558 3500 26 11 5.9 174 472 1947 13 4.1 115 95 737 43 39.4 8.9 44.21
19 Philadelphia Eagles 17 379 5291 1010 5.2 15 8 306 318 497 3303 26 7 6.2 166 478 1988 17 4.2 114 117 1073 26 35.0 6.8 60.81
20 Los Angeles Chargers 17 368

Anyways, they weren’t that good statistically on either side of the ball.