{"id":284552,"date":"2026-09-12T15:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T15:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/284552\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T15:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T15:28:09","slug":"bell-2026-pittsburgh-steelers-season-prediction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/284552\/","title":{"rendered":"Bell: 2026 Pittsburgh Steelers Season Prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers Commentary<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghA oversized replica of the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XL ring outside Acrisure Stadium on Sept. 11, 2026. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Steelers<\/a> will host the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, led by longtime foe Kevin Stefanski, on Sunday to kick off the 2026 NFL regular season. All 32 teams enter Week 1 striving for a singular end result: hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Super Bowl aspirations aside, there are typically fewer than a dozen true contenders to be the last team standing in February, although the Seattle Seahawks, who opened last season with +6000 odds, did show us that dark horses can still emerge from the shadows every now and then. <\/p>\n

Could a storybook ending be in the cards for Mike McCarthy<\/a> and Aaron Rodgers<\/a> reunion?<\/p>\n

Without burying the lede any longer, I don\u2019t think a seventh ring is within the realm of possibility for this organization this season. But before getting into some final predictions, it\u2019s worth discussing realistic expectations. If they\u2019re not the last team standing in McCarthy\u2019s inaugural season as the shot-caller of his beloved hometown squad, how will we know if the franchise is still heading in the right direction?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been writing this same piece for years now, and my answer to what specifically would quantify success has been different each cycle. There have been times when breaking the playoff win drought felt very attainable and, thus, shot to the top of the list of expectations. In other seasons, it\u2019s been more about finding out about specific players or units. In 2023, the Steelers\u2019 final record felt much less important than figuring out if Kenny Pickett<\/a> was capable of being the franchise guy (spoiler alert: he was not).<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Troy Fautanu at minicamp on June 3, 2026. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Last year, I felt like it was critical to see notable development from their young players at key positions in the trenches. What would Troy Fautanu<\/a> look like at a new position in what was essentially his rookie campaign? Can Pittsburgh\u2019s young pass rushers level up and develop to the point where they are comfortable passing the torch to guys like Nick Herbig<\/a> and Keeanu Benton<\/a> in the near future? We saw legitimate growth from all of those youngsters, a couple of whom received big paydays as a result, and thus, I considered the season a win despite another embarrassing loss in the Wild Card round.<\/p>\n

So, what would constitute a successful season this go-around? After mulling it over for a while, the conclusion feels pretty straightforward. In six months, will we view McCarthy and\/or Patrick Graham<\/a> as truly difference-making play-callers who are capable of giving the Steelers a schematic advantage in the near future?<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Drew Allar at training camp on July 30, 2026. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh hasn\u2019t finished better than 15th in points scored since 2018, which was coincidentally the year prior to Ben Roethlisberger\u2019s<\/a> prime-altering elbow injury. A fair amount of their lack of success offensively can be directly linked to their struggles at the most important position in any sport\u2014 quarterback. Ownership has openly explained that McCarthy\u2019s ability to develop passers was a big feather in his cap during the interview process. Even with some emerging stars along the offensive line and upgraded weaponry across the board, this year is going to be one of his toughest challenges yet.<\/p>\n

This is a very young group up front in the midst of a seismic schematic shift, and McCarthy will have his hands full working around the natural limitations associated with a 42-year-old quarterback whose style is no longer en vogue in today\u2019s league. On the bright side, if he can somehow push all of the right buttons and maximize this year\u2019s offense, there will be an enormous level of optimism heading into next year. In essence, you want to leave this season feeling supremely confident that this is an offensive ecosystem that you trust dropping a young signal caller into in 2027.<\/p>\n

Unlike McCarthy, Graham\u2019s resume isn\u2019t nearly as decorated, with only one top-ten finish during his career as a defensive coordinator. On the surface, those results are troubling, but there\u2019s necessary context needed to understand those struggles. His Las Vegas Raiders units had one star player in Maxx Crosby and simply not enough talent along the supporting cast to make them relevant. There is simply no denying that this year\u2019s Steelers roster is leaps and bounds more talented than any he\u2019s had the privilege of leading to date.<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey in a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan 4, 2026,. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

There are natural and reasonable expectations that come with calling plays for the most expensive defense in the league. The most exciting thing about the addition is just how much different things will almost assuredly look from a schematic standpoint. His preference to play more of a two-high shell, deploy more split-field zone coverages while still mixing in plenty of fun max-pressure looks along the way will be fun to watch play out. Honestly, things had gotten stale from an Xs and Os standpoint recently, which made the Steelers predictable at times.<\/p>\n

If nothing else, the 2026 version of the Steelers will feel different. Will that actually lend itself to better results in the win\/loss column? That\u2019s where the skepticism creeps in. Pittsburgh has more young talent than the national perception is giving them credit for, and their approach to free agency made more sense this spring. Also, a schedule that features just one playoff team from a year ago all the way up to Nov. 22 is a big bonus!<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers defensive leaders Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt at training camp, Aug. 5, 2023. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

However, this is a team still relying on a lot of older, expensive players at key spots. Can Cam Heyward<\/a> (37 years old), who was outstanding in 2025, really carve out yet another All-Pro-caliber season? Is T.J. Watt<\/a> (31) still a game-changing pass rusher who can take over games in the clutch, or are we about to see a third straight season in which his production and effectiveness wane? What does Jalen Ramsey<\/a> (32) have left at this point as the Steelers try to get him closer to the ball this fall?<\/p>\n

Finally, despite all of their history with one another, I remain unconvinced that this version of Rodgers (43) is actually willing or capable of tweaking his game at this stage of his career, making him a clunky fit for McCarthy\u2019s offense. To me, the ceiling for this team is reminiscent of years past, where a playoff appearance is realistic, but there could be a slightly lower floor where a losing record wouldn\u2019t be a total surprise either.<\/p>\n

Frustratingly, I landed at 9-8 (again<\/a>) as they remain a team in transition.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article:Aaron Rodgers<\/a> Mike McCarthy<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers Commentary A oversized replica of the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XL ring outside Acrisure Stadium on Sept.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3269,8203,73,75,74,1833,1829,17531],"class_list":["post-284552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-mike-mccarthy","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-steelers","tag-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}