Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be taking an in-depth look at the Bengals’ 2026 opponents. Cincinnati plays its first divisional game of the year in Week 3 in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.
2025
Pittsburgh won the AFC North last year with a 10-7 record and lost in the Wild Card round to the Houston Texans 30-6. The Steelers ranked in the middle of the pack both offensively (23.4 points per game, 15th) and defensively (22.8 points allowed per game, 17th) in 2025.
The Steelers signed four-time MVP QB Aaron Rodgers to lead the offense in 2025, his 21st year in the NFL. The 2005 first-round pick started 16 of 17 games and threw for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns with seven interceptions. D.K. Metcalf served as the primary target for Rodgers, leading the team with 850 receiving yards and six touchdowns in his first year in black and yellow after being traded from Seattle. RB Kenneth Gainwell led the team in receptions with 73.
On the ground, RB Jaylen Warren rushed for a team-high 958 yards and six touchdowns, while Gainwell added 537 rushing yards. As a unit, Pittsburgh averaged 4.3 yards per carry, good for 17th in the league.
Defensively, the Steelers allowed the seventh-most yards per game last season, giving up 356.9 yards per contest. They were especially vulnerable against the pass, allowing the fourth-most passing yards per game in the NFL (243.9). Pittsburgh traded for former All-Pro CB Jalen Ramsey before the start of the 2025 season, who allowed a career-high seven touchdowns in coverage, tied for the fifth-most among all defenders.
The Pittsburgh defensive line still wreaked havoc on opposing offenses, ranking sixth in the NFL with 48 sacks. Alex Highsmith led the team with 9.5 takedowns in 13 games played, while Nick Herbig had 7.5. Four-time All Pro T.J. Watt had seven sacks of his own. The Steelers allowed 113.1 rushing yards per game, ranking 13th in run defense last season.
Offseason Changes
Pittsburgh brought back Rodgers for his 22nd season and added some weapons around him. The Steelers traded a sixth-round pick to the Indianapolis Colts for WR Michael Pittman Jr. and a seventh-round pick. Pittman Jr. enters his seventh year in the NFL out of USC and has two seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards. They also drafted Alabama WR Germie Bernard in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Gainwell signed with the Buccaneers in free agency, and the Steelers added former Cowboys and Panthers RB Rico Dowdle to the fold. Dowdle is coming off a 1,000-yard rushing season in Carolina, his second consecutive year hitting that mark after rushing for 1,079 yards in Dallas in 2024. They also selected Arizona State OT Max Iheanachor in the first round of the draft in an attempt to shore up their run and pass blocking.
Defensively, the team looked to address its pass defense with the signing of former Tampa Bay CB Jamel Dean and the drafting of Georgia CB Daylen Everette in the third round of the NFL Draft.