Steelers Report Card for TNF Loss to the Browns: Losing Control of the Classroom Edition

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From the gradebook of a preoccupied principal worrying his teacher may be losing control of the classroom, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the 2026 TNF loss to the Browns.

Maliek Collins sacks Aaron Rodgers in the Steelers 2026 TNF loss to the Browns

Maliek Collins sacks Aaron Rodgers in the Steelers 2026 TNF loss to the Browns. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers went 22-40-299-2-2. Credit Rodgers for leading 3 touchdown drives, 2 of which came in the 4th quarter. He looked smart on all three. But he struggled for much of the rest of the night, throwing two picks and missing open receivers on multiple occasions. Grade: DSteelers, Report Card, grades,

Running Backs
Jaylen Warren ran for 95 yards on 17 carries and caught 3 passes for 33 yards. Travis Homer had 2 carries for minus 1 yards. Grade: B

Tight Ends
Darnell Washington caught 3 passes for 27 yards and Pat Freiermuth 3 for 17. Each man caught a touchdown and both men continued to block well. Grade: B

Wide Receivers
D.K. Metcalf had 5 catches for 115 yards on 9 targets. You’d like to say he looked like a true WR No. 1, except he gave up a taunting penalty. Roman Wilson had 3 catches for 74 yards but broke off his route to the middle of the field trying to get out of bounds. Michael Pittman Jr. had 2 catches for 15 yards. Germie Bernard had 2 grabs for 11 yards while Ben Skowronek had 1 for 7 yards. Individually each wide out had his moments, but they struggled to gain separation during the middle of the game on a night when the team needed more. Grade: C-

Offensive Line
Aaron Rodgers was sacked 5 times, but to be fair to the offensive line, the last 2 of those can likely be chalked up as “coverage sacks.” And the run blocking was better. This performance doesn’t negate the positive signs the line showed against Cincinnati, but it does confirm more progress is needed. Grade: D

Defensive Line
The Browns rushing attack didn’t make any noise until early in the 2nd quarter. Derrick Harmon left injured in the 2nd quarter after his 5th defensive snap? Coincidence? Doubtful. An excuse? No way. IF you take out Jaleel McLaughlin’s 28-yard touchdown run, the Steelers defense had a lot of success against the Browns. But that’s the problem, tackling appeared to be optional at times. Cam Heyward did force a fumble, but that can only pull the grade up so much. Grade: D

Linebackers
The inside linebackers were also complicit in the poor tackling/run containment, while T.J. Watt did register a strip sack which should have been a momentum-changer, but pressure from the linebackers was not consistent. Grade: D

Robert Spears-Jennings intercepts Deshaun Watson during the Steelers 2026 TNF loss to the Browns

Robert Spears-Jennings picks off Deshaun Watson to start the 4th quarter. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Secondary
Deshaun Watson did his best Doug Williams Super Bowl XXII impersonation throwing more touchdown passes, two, than incompletions in the second quarter. To their credit, the unit tightened up and kept Cleveland out of the end zone in the 2nd half. And Robert Spears-Jennings heads-up interception got the Steelers back in the game. But the Browns got the yards they needed to get into field goal range. Grade: D

Special Teams
Cameron Johnston boomed off 5 punts pinning the Browns at the one once. And the Steelers punt return was solid, while Kaden Wetjen had one solid return. However, Wetjen was average on kick returns, and the Steelers gave up a 33-yard return helping set up a Browns field goal drive. Chris Boswell missed a 48-yarder in what would be a 3-point game. The Steelers needed their special teams to be special. Instead they were barely average: Grade: C-

Coaching
Mike McCarthy did an excellent job with his opening script of plays. And they looked to be building on another drive until an interception short-circuited the Steelers’ performance in all three phases for an entire quarter.

  • To his credit, McCarthy made adjustments.

The same can be said for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. His defense started strong, put in an atrocious 2nd quarter, but rebounded in the second half.

  • Objectively, the issue is consistency.

Just about every area on the depth chart put some quality sequences of plays on tape, but they also put some horrid sequences on tape. If one of them could have just managed to attain a little more consistency, the outcome could easily have been different.

Subjectively, we saw a number of players get animated either on the field or the sidelines. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – we all likely remember the NFL Films clip of rookie Jack Lambert yelling at veteran Jack Ham – but McCarthy must harness this passion and energy constructively. Grade: D

Jack Sawyer tips a Deshaun Watson pass during the Steelers 2026 TNF loss to the Cleveland Browns

Leaping Jack Sawyer tips Deshaun Watson’s pass. Photo Credit: X.com

Unsung Hero Award
Tides in football games are altered by players give everything they’ve got, who play to the whistle and who, when they can’t quite achieve their objective find other ways to make an impact. Second year man Jack Sawyer was a step to slow too reach the quarterback, but by leaping he just nicked the ball, transforming a pass interference penalty into a momentum-shifting interception. For that, Sawyer wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2026 Thursday Night loss to the Browns.

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The Game Within the Game: Dissecting the Steelers 27-24 Loss to the Browns on TNF

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Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season saw the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Cleveland and drop a 27-24 decision to the Browns on Thursday Night Football.

Judging by the reaction from Steelers Nation on social media, the 2026 Steelers are officially the worst 2-2 team in the history of organized athletics (including, it would seem, team competitions from the ancient Olympics.)

However, with the benefit of a little time and detached reflection, one can see that the loss did yield a lot of insights about this Steelers squad, especially if you focus on the game within the game.

An animated T.J. Watt gets on the headset with Patrick Graham.

An animated T.J. Watt gets on the headset with Patrick Graham. Photo Credit: NFL on Amazon Prime.

Steelers Follow Tormented Template for Thursday Night AFC North Road Games

Thursday Night division road games have been terrible for the Steelers. Neither Chuck Noll, nor Bill Cowher, nor Mike Tomlin won one. Neither has Mike McCarthy, but his team did follow the same template that Tomlin laid down on a Thursday Night a year ago against the Bengals in the opposite corner of Ohio.

Both games saw the Steelers begin by scoring touchdowns on opening drives. Both saw the Steelers defense force fast punts on their Ohio opponent’s first possessions. In both games, the Steelers maintained control, until an untimely Aaron Rodgers interception flipped the momentum to the Ohio team.

And there, on both occasions, Pittsburgh’s opponents savaged a once-proud defense, with attacks on the ground followed by freely flowing passes downfield.

  • On both October nights, the Steelers offense fought back.

As he did in Cincinnati last year, Aaron Rodgers again in Cleveland would lead twin 4th quarter touchdown drives, culminating with touchdown passes to Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington.

Pat Freiermuth, Jordan Battle, Steelers vs Bengals, Steelers vs Bengals TNF

Pat Freiermuth stiff arms Jordan Battle en route to the end zone. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

And, on both occasions, fans twirled their Terrible Towels celebrating Freiermuth’s touchdown while silently asking themselves – “Did Aaron Rodgers leave too much time on the clock?”

To that end, perhaps the Bengals and Browns should retaliate for “Renegade” by starting to play Styx’s “Too Much Time on Your Hands” during 4th quarter TV time outs, because both games ended with the Steelers offense leaving too much time on the clock for defenses incapable of making stops.

  • The similarities between these twin AFC North Thursday Night road losses are uncanny indeed.

But there are important differences in the dynamics of how both contest evolved, and those differences are where we can find insights.

The Game within The Game: On the Field, the Ugly Side

Here are two factoids that contradict each other while both being true:

  • If you take out the second quarter, the Steelers win 24 to 6
  • But that 2nd period is a candidate for the “worst quarter” in Steelers history

And that’s what makes this game so fascinating. The Steelers opened with a 17-play, nine-minute and 48-second drive that ended with a Roman Wilson rushing touchdown. The Steelers ran six times with Jaylen Warren getting five carries, while Aaron Rodgers hit four different receivers.

  • That’s the kind of ball-control football that would have given Ron Erhardt a wet dream.

While Steelers history buffs will appreciate that, what that opening drive reveals is that Mike McCarthy and his staff did an extremely good job of scripting their opening set of plays.

Roman Wilson runs in a touchdown to put the Steelers up 7-0 against the Browns on Thursday Night Football.

Roman Wilson runs in a 1st quarter touchdown. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

The same can be said for Patrick Graham’s defense, which limited the Browns to 9 plays and under 30 yards on their first two drives.

Really it looked like McCarthy was en route to cracking the code to winning on TNF…

…Until Aaron Rodgers threw a pick. Then, the bottom feel out on the Steelers across the board:

  • The offensive line failed to protect Rodgers
  • When it did, the receivers couldn’t gain separation, so Rodgers got sacked anyway
  • When receivers did get open, Rodgers misfired, often badly
  • Tackling became an optional duty for Steelers defenders
  • The secondary struggled to cover the Browns’ receivers
  • Chris Boswell missed a field goal

About the only thing going right for the Steelers was Jaylen Warren’s running and Cameron Johnston’s punting.

The Game Within the Game: On the Field, the Sunny Side

Anytime you give up 21 unanswered points in a quarter, things are going bad. Truth be told, some of the weakness the Browns exposed can be fixed, others may be systemic.

The Steelers had to swallow a bitter pill and ship Joey Porter Jr. off to Dallas, but there’s no universe where their secondary is better for the change. Unless Daylen Everette’s baptism by fire transforms him into the next Rod Woodson, there’s little the Steelers can do to address that until next spring.

But some of the things that the Steelers flashed in-game give reason for hope. Take a second look at the third and fourth quarters and you’ll see Mike McCarthy, his staff and players making adjustments in real time:

  • The offensive line improved, protecting Rodgers better.
  • Either through improved play-calling or  execution, the receivers finally gained separation in the 4th quarter
  • D.K. Metcalf delivered when his number was called
  • Patrick Graham’s defense kept the Browns out of the end zone in the 2nd half
  • Robert Spears-Jennings secured a momentum-shifting interception
  • The run blocking of the offensive line was borderline exceptional

Anyone who is unconvinced on the last point should re-watch Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick outmuscling the opposing defensive tackles on Aaron Rodgers’ QB sneak.

Likewise, those tempted to hit the panic button over Patrick Graham’s defense should also take into consideration that he made those adjustments sans starting cornerback Jamel Dean and Derrick Harmon.

But those adjustments weren’t sufficient for the Steelers to secure victory. That brings us to the game within the game off the field.

The Game within the Game: Off the Field = McCarthy’s Challenge

The Steelers’ loss to the Browns on Thursday Night Football also featured something not seen in last year’s in the TNF loss to the Bengals and seldom seen before.

  • The quarterback and head coach exchanging F-bombs
  • T.J. Watt demanding the headset for a heated exchange with his coordinator
  • Cam Heyward reading the riot act to the rest of the defense

There are two directions this dynamic can evolve. It can mark the moment when the veterans on the team raised their voices to straighten the ship. Or it can mark the moment where the coaching staff started losing control.

Mike McCarthy’s challenge coming out of the Browns game is to ensure this dynamic evolves constructively rather than destructively.

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What a Shame: Steelers Trade Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys

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The Pittsburgh Steelers will trade Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for Dallas’ 6th round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft and their 2nd Round Pick in the 2028 NFL Draft.

The move, while hardly surprising, remains incredibly disappointing.

Joey Porter Jr and Joey Porter Sr and Porter Jr. with Nico Collins

Joey Porter Jr.’s Steelers journey comes full circle, to a bitter end. Photo Credits: G. N. Lowrance, Getty Images; Houston Chronicle

How should Steelers fans make sense of this? In this case, three simple words we all learned as young children suffice:

What a shame.

Yes, it is a real shame for the organization, for Joey Porter Jr., for the fans, for everyone.

  • The Steelers defense clearly needs Porter: Now they won’t have him.
  • Joey Porter Jr. wanted a long term deal: Now he’ll play in Dallas, without one.

No matter how you slice it, no matter whose side you’re on, regardless of who you consider to be “at fault,” this situation has ended badly.

A narrative that was shaping up to be something that Disney itself couldn’t have scripted better has instead taken on the feel of a poorly executed B-level reboot of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

One of the enduring images from Super Bowl XL is that of Joey Porter Jr. sitting on the arm of his father Joey Porter Sr. That’s where Joey Porter Jr.’s story with the Pittsburgh Steelers began.

But its roots run far deeper. Porter worked as a ballboy. Apparently he drilled, at some level, against Antonio Brown in training camp. He played in school with Mike Tomlin’s kids. He went to Penn State. He was drafted with the 32nd pick, a second rounder that Omar Khan had swindled out of Chicago in the Chase Claypool trade.

Arriving in Pittsburgh, he took on Number 24, the number worn by  “Uncle Ike,” or Ike Taylor who made the game-changing play in Super Bowl XL.

Porter’s first interception came courtesy of Lamar Jackson, in the end zone no less, and sparked an improbable comeback victory over the Ravens. (Yes, Kenny Pickett left Pittsburgh and remains “undefeated” against Lamar Jackson – there’s a factoid to stock up on for Final Jeopardy.)

Joey Porter Jr., Steelers vs Ravens

Joey Porter Jr. gets his first interception. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Porter had a strong rookie year. It is probably fair to say that he didn’t quite make the proverbial “second year leap” in 2024. But it is even more accurate to say that he did make a significant leap in year 3. No, Porter hadn’t established himself as a true, “shut down corner” but he was heading in that trajectory.

  • For the Steelers, this was a dream come true.

When you think of defensive backs drafted by the Steelers in this century, names like Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and maybe even Big Play Willie Gay come to mind. So they should.

But other monikers, we forget. Names like Hank Poteat, Ricardo Colclough, Cortez Allen, Shamarko Thomas, Senquez Golson and Terrell Edmunds.

Joey Porter Jr. was the antidote to those misses. Finally, after so many misfires, the Steelers had drafted and developed a cornerback and were about to see him bud into his prime.

Alas, that’s all been reduced to a 6th round pick next spring and a 2nd found pick two springs after that.

Who to Blame for the Joey Porter Jr. Fiasco?

Focusing on blame is something I try to avoid going through life. It is seldom productive and often a corrosive endeavor. But the Joey Porter Jr. fiasco did not need to end this way.

  • As with most situations, both sides share responsibility.

For their part, the Steelers never should have declared him injured if he in fact was healthy. If Mike McCarthy wanted to end the policy of allowing “hold ins” – as is his right as head coach – that should have been crystal clear from the beginning.

But the lion’s share of the responsibly falls on Joey Porter Jr.’s shoulders.

  • By all accounts, the Steelers made him a fair offer.
  • If Joey Porter Jr. didn’t want to accept it and bet on himself, he had the right.

But then he needed to follow through and prove that he deserved to be paid what he thought he was worth by playing through the final year of his contract.

  • That’s how the dynamic of negotiations with 3rd year players works.

The team offers him a deal, usually a little less than the player would command on the open market, and the player gets his money a year earlier and reduces his injury risk.

Most often it works out as a win-win situation – see Hines Ward whom the Steelers re-signed before the 2001 season. Other times, it backfires on the team – see Cortez Allen’s second contract.

Hines Ward, Steeles vs Ravens, 2001 AFC Divisional Playoffs, first playoff game Heinz Field

Hines Ward flexes his muscles in the playoffs against the Ravens. The Steelers were back!. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

If Porter was dead set on opting out of this dynamic, only playing if and when he got a new contract, they he should have stated that from the get-go.

Instead, he feigned injury, as confirmed by is comments that he hopes to suit up for the Cowboys this Sunday.

That’s the adult equivalent of shaking the thermometer to make it look like you’ve got a fever of 99 degrees so that mom will let you stay home from school on Friday, and then turning around and saying “Hey mom, I’m feeling better. Can I go to the dance tonight?”

In the end, the Steelers really are accepting the short end of the stick by taking a 2nd-round 2028 and a 6th-round 2027 in exchange for Porter.

But moving on from Porter is the best choice they could make at this point, even if it is a bad one. It is far, far better than watching Art Rooney II becoming the NFL equivalent of Ferris Bueller’s nemesis Edward “Ed” Rooney.

What a shame.

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Steelers Report Card for Win Over Bengals: Old Offense Learns New Tricks Edition

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Taken from the notebook of a teacher who is pleased to see his old offense learn new tricks, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the 2026 win over the Bengals at Acrisure.

Derrick Harmon seals the Steelers win with a strip-sack of Joe Burrow.

Derrick Harmon seals the win by strip-sacking Joe Burrow. Photo Credit: Jarden Wickerham, Steelers.com

Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers went 19 of 34 for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception on a pass his receiver should have caught. Rodgers impressed far more with his command at the line of scrimmage. A few throws missed their mark, and red zone performance late in the game could have been better. But a very good day for the veteran. Grade: B+Steelers, Report Card, grades,

Running Backs
Jaylen Warren finally got his shot at being the Pittsburgh Steelers feature back. And he excelled running for 127 yards on 17 carries (minus  an 85-yard run nullified by a penalty), while catching 3 passes for 49 yards. And, while you don’t see it on the stat sheet, Warren delivered several critical pass blocks. Travis Homer and Lew Nichols both had a carry for naught. Grade: A

Tight Ends
Pat Freiermuth only caught 2 passes for 30 yards, but his opening pancake block set the tone for the entire day. He also had a Tush-Push 3rd down conversion. Darnell Washington led the team in receiving yards, with 3 catches for 67; one converted a 3rd down where it took 4 players to stop him. Robert Tonyan caught 1 pass for 2 yards. Grade: B+

Wide Receivers
Roman Wilson started strong catching the first touchdown and converting a key third down. Then he bobbled a pass that led to an interception, setting up a Cincinnati score. He also had another drop. D.K. Metcalf only caught 3 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown, but for the first time this season he was a reliable receiver. Germie Bernard converted a third down with his lone 14 yard catch and made a key block in Washington’s 47-yard reception. Ben Skowronek caught a 23 yard touchdown that broke Steelers 1st-quarter, 2-touchdown drought that had been running for 98 games. Grade: B

Offensive Line
This is the level of play that everyone expected when Omar Khan and Andy Weidl committed to rebuilding in the trenches in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Bengals defensive line has been wrecking games thus far, yet starting two new players, the Steelers offensive line more than held their own. Yes, there were breakdowns late in the game that led to field goals instead of touchdowns, but this was a good performance by any measure. Grade: B

Defensive Line
The Steelers defensive line kept the Bengals rushing attack in check. The unit didn’t have much luck in pressuring Joe Burrow – until it counted. First, Cam Heyward forced an incompletion that set up a punt, and then Derrick Harmon strip-sacked Burrow with the game on the line, as Sebastian Joseph-Day recovered. Grade: B+

Linebackers
The Bengals knew they had to get the ball out of Joe Burrow’s hands quickly, and they did, limiting the ability of the Steelers elite pass rushers to do their damage. But the linebackers contributed in other ways, with Patrick Queen coming up with a key pass deflection while leading the team in tackles. And Payton Wilson had a key tipped pass two plays before Heyward forced his incompletion. Grade: B

Secondary
Let’s acknowledge the obvious – the Bengals offense moved through the air early and often. But their longest pass play went for 28 yards – three Steelers had receptions longer than that – yeah, we all saw that coming, didn’t we? Jalen Ramsey was excellent in run support and Jamel Dean had a key pass deflection. Grade: B-

Ben Skowronek recovers a muffed punt to set up the go-ahead score.

Ben Skowronek streams in to recover a muffed punt. Photo Credit: Jordan Perez, Steelers.com

Special Teams
Kaden Wetjen had an average day as a kick returner while the Steelers coverage units were a little leaky. But Chris Boswell was perfect and Cameron Johnston only had one punt, but it went for 51 yards and he planted it inside the 20. The real star here was Ben Skowronek who recovered a muffed punt, setting up the go ahead score. Grade: B+

Coaching
A week ago after the loss to the Patriots, Mike McCarthy manned up and took responsibility for the offense’s poor performance.

What we saw this week was McCarthy’s ability to transform accountability into action. McCarthy made the bold decision to make two changes on his offensive line. The result was the best Steelers offensive line performance since Mike Munchak moved out west.

But McCarthy did more than change personnel; he devised a game plan that systematically picked apart the Bengals defense and ensured that his players executed it.

Aaron Rodgers burning 5 timeouts to get play calls right shows that this offense remains a work in progress; the fact that the first one of those time outs converted a 3rd and 5 into a 38-yard touchdown provides evidence that progress will be made.

We know that Patrick Graham instructed his players to keep Cincinnati’s pass catchers in front of them. This “Bend but don’t break” strategy succeeded in allowing the Steelers to keep pace, until Pittsburgh’s pass rush could get to Burrow just when they needed to. Grade: B

Max Iheanachor keeps Aaron Rodgers clean.

Max Iheanachor keeps Aaron Rodgers clean. Photo Credit: Trai Essex, X.com

Unsung Hero Award
Will this game mark some kind of milestone when the history of the McCarthy era is written? Today we don’t know. But when future football historians research this game’s box score on ESPN or Pro Football Reference, there’s one name they won’t see even though his play had an immediate impact. And for that, Max Iheanachor wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2026 win over the Bengals at Acrisure Stadium.

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Steelers Offense Comes to Life in 30-27 Win Over Bengals at Acrisure

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The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27 at Acrisure Stadium in Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season, improving their record to 2-1 and keeping them even in the deadlocked AFC North.

  • Like any good AFC North rivalry game this one came down to the final gun.

When it was all said and done the Pittsburgh Steelers prevailed because a bold personnel decision made by Mike McCarthy had an end-to-end ripple effect across an offense that finally looked NFL-worthy.

Roman Wilson beats Jalen Davis for the Steelers 1st touchdown in the week 3 2026 win over the Bengals

Roman Wilson beats Jalen Davis for the first touchdown. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Four Plays Signal a Dramatically Different Steelers Offense

One constant through the Steelers win over the Falcons and their loss to the Patriots has been a substandard offense. This continued a trend from previous seasons that Mike McCarthy’s hire was supposed to change that. Yet he hadn’t.

Worse yet, the Bengals defense, highlighted by the arrival of Dexter Lawrence, was looking scary good. The recipe seemed to spell disaster for the Steelers.

But it only took Mike McCarthy and his players 4 plays to prove that this offense was capable of something both different and better.

The first play from scrimmage saw Jaylen Warren line up behind Aaron Rodgers, with Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington linked up besides him in the backfield. It wasn’t exactly a Wishbone formation, but the smart money was that McCarthy was going to use his bruising blockers to challenge the Bengals up the middle.

He did not. Instead he called a pass play where Warren slipped into the flat, Pat Freiermuth pancaked a would-be tackler, and 30 yards and a blink of an eye later, Warren was in Bengals territory.

A five-yard dink-and-dunk pass to Roman Wilson and an incompletion brought up a third and five. And here is when things really changed.

  • How many times have we seen Steelers drives sputter in similar moments?

Raise your hand if you weren’t quietly hoping to avoid a sack and wondering whether Chris Boswell could make a 60-yarder. A lot of people should be raising their hands, but Mike McCarthy isn’t one of them.

Instead he was bunching four wideouts on the weakside, allowing Roman Wilson to gain a full 5 yards to hook up with Aaron Rodgers for a 38-yard touchdown.

No, Pittsburgh hadn’t proven it could go touchdown-for-touchdown with Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ high-octane offense, but the Steelers offense had at least made the suggestion….

12 Hands in the Pile for Pittsburgh’s Offense

You can attach a lot of superlatives to the Steelers offensive performance, even if no one will or should mistake it for the Greatest Show on Turf. But what really sticks out is that it was a end-to-end team performance with 12 different players touched the ball.

  • Roman Wilson showed he was more than dink-and-dunk/garbage time wideout
  • D.K. Metcalf didn’t dominate, but caught 3 of 5 passes thrown his way, including a touchdown
  • Germie Bernard only had one catch, but it converted a critical third down
  • Bernard also made a heads-up block enabling the longest catch of the game
  • Darnell Washington made that catch, as well as a critical third down conversion

These individual performances, while important, don’t capture the full story of the step forward the offense took against the Bengals. Mike McCarthy has professed his desire for a balanced run-pass ratio.

With Aaron Rodgers throwing 34 passes and Steelers running backs carrying the ball 19 times, that ratio was once again skewed. But that ratio also shows how too tight a focus on statistics and skew the understanding of the game, as the Steelers second touchdown illustrates.

Ben Skowronek comes in motion, moves up field as if he’s a blocker, Rodgers fakes the handoff to Warren, the safety bites an in another blink of an eye Skowronek is scoring a touchdown – by forcing Cincinnati to respect the run, Rodgers burned the Bengals through the air.

Run! Jaylen Run!

Ever since he arrived as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2022, both fans and professional commentators have been screaming for the Steelers to use Jaylen Warren as a featured running back.

  • For one reason or another, that role never emerged for Warren.

Until today.

And Warren proved he was more than up to the task. How good was Warren? Well, he logged a near-All Pro level game despite the fact that his best run, an 85-yarder, was called back due to a ticky-tacky penalty.

Jaylen Warren breaks one in the 2nd quarter of the Steelers week 3 2026 win over the Bengals.

Jaylen Warren breaks free. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla

Warren hurt the Bengals through the air and on the ground, rushing for 127 yards and catching 3 passes for 49 yards. His play wasn’t flawless – he stumbled on what could have been a game-clinching touchdown run – but Warren was easily the MVP.

Special Teams, Defense Deliver When It Counts

The Steelers special teams were en route to a meh afternoon — Kaden Wetjen wasn’t scaring anyone with his kick returns, and the Steelers return coverage was a little too leaky, spotting the Bengals a little too much yardage.

Yet, when Ke’Shawn Williams let a punt bounce off of him with 11:04 left in the 4th quarter Ben Skowronek streaked in to make the recovery.

  • Four plays later, Chris Boswell was kicking the tying field goal

Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins no doubt made a lot of Fantasy Football Owners happy after this game. It is easy to see why. Each man caught a touchdown, with Burrow throwing another to Mike Gesicki, and really for much of the afternoon they made it look easy.

But the defense delivered when it counted. Going into the locker room at halftime Mike McCarthy revealed that he needed his defense to get two stops of Burrow in the second half (who can imagine Mike Tomlin saying something like that?)

And that’s what he got. Midway through the 4th quarter with the Bengals at midfield on 3rd and 2, Cam Heyward wrapped Burrow forcing him to ground it, bringing up a punt.

  • That allowed the Steelers to score the go-ahead field goal.

Giving the ball to Burrow with 2 minutes left and 2 timeouts is a very dangerous proposition, but with the Bengals passing from Pittsburgh’s 38 the Derrick Harmon strip sacked Burrow, with Sebastian Joseph-Day recovering, allowing the Mike McCarthy to send out the victory formation.

I’ll gladly trade fancy passing stats to Fantasy Football fans in exchange for defensive linemen that can rattle elite quarterbacks in critical situations on any given Sunday.

Offensive Line Provides the Foundation – Now It Is Time to Build

It wasn’t quite a shootout, but the Pittsburgh Steelers did outscore the Cincinnati Bengals. This end-to-end offensive effort was anchored by two names you won’t see in the stat sheet, Max Iheanachor and Brock Hoffman. The right side of the offensive line had been shaky through the first two games.

  • Mike McCarthy not only took note, he took action by starting Iheanachor and Hoffman.

Switching out 2/5 of your offensive line in Week 3 is a risk, but McCarthy’s decision paid immediate dividends:

Great offensive lines are built over the course of seasons, not in single games. Nor was the unit perfect, as sacks forced twin 4th quarter possessions into field goal situations. But hopefully this performance is something that both the line itself and the entire offense can build on.

Hopefully they’re fast builders, because a trip to Cleveland and another AFC North Game is just three days away….

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Steelers Report Card for Loss to Patriots — Self Sabotage at Gillette Edition

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Taken from the gradebook of a teacher sad to see his students self-sabotage, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the 2026 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

T.J. Watt closes in to sack Derek Maye in the Steelers 2026 loss to the Patriots.

T.J. Watt seconds before sacking Derek Maye. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers went 23-39 for zero touchdowns and 1 interception. The interception wasn’t his fault; he got zero help from his receivers and he got even less from his offensive line, but even controlling for that, too many of his passes were off target. Grade: DSteelers, Report Card, grades,

Running Backs
Jaylen Warren had 11 carries for 43 yards and 2 catches for 35 yards. Rico Dowdle had 7 carries for 22 yards and 2 catches for 22 yards. Travis Homer had 2 carries for 16 yards. Decent numbers, but the running backs could not establish any semblance of a rhythm. Grade: C-

Tight Ends
Pat Freiermuth had 4 catches for 32 yards on 5 targets and 1 carry in the tush push. Darnell Washington had one catch for 7 yards. Hard to say the tight ends were part of the problem, but easy to observe that they failed to step up as part of the solution. Grade: D

Wide Receivers
Rookie Germie Bernard looked to be the one bright spot here, until he let a pass bounce out of his hands to kill a scoring drive when a sliver of a comeback chance remained. D.K. Metcalf had 4 catches for all of 27 yards – and that includes a 16-yard quasi garbage-time catch. Roman Wilson caught 5 checkdown passes for 28 yards. Ben Skowronek had one catch for 2 yards.

So watch out for those Steelers wideouts on those sub-five yard passes. They’ll get you every time…

…Ah, once again, Generation X Steelers fans are left longing for the days of Charles Lockett, Derek Hill, Dwight Stone  and heck, why not Weegie Thompson? Grade: F

Offensive Line
Where to start? The unit let its quarterback get hit 7 times, sacked 4 times, 2 of which were strip sacks. There were a couple of flashes of respectability in the run blocking, but nothing of any sort of consequence and certainly not early enough in the game when the Steelers needed it the most. Grade: F

Defensive Line
Cam Heyward had another tipped pass and 3 tackles. Derrick Harmon led the team in tackles with 9 and had half of a sack. If you exclude two long runs by Patriots running backs, the Steelers contained the run well enough to win. Grade: B-

Linebackers
T.J. Watt had a sack and a half. Patrick Queen hauled in an interception. Payton Wilson had a tackle for a loss. Alex Highsmith had a sack and three tackles for losses. All good. But Highsmith had an off sides penalty that gave the Patriots new life, and two plays later TreVeyon Henderson cut through the heart of the Steelers defense like a knife – untouched by any linebacker. Grade: B-

Secondary
No Patriots receiver caught more than 3 passes and only one sniffed 100 yards. Romeo Doubs did burn the Steelers for a 63-yard gain, but the defense held after that. Grade: B-

Special Teams
Chris Boswell was 1-1 on field goals, missing a 57 yarder but making a 56 yarder with room to spare. Cameron Johnston boomed off 8 punts for a 48.1 yard average and pinned the Patriots inside the 20 on three separate occasions, arguably making him the MVP of the Steelers offense. Kaden Wetjen and Eli Heidenreich had solid days as returners, but the same can be said of New England’s returners. Grade: C

Coaching
Let’s start with the positive. Patrick Graham’s defense turned out a “above the line” performance. Yes, his unit suffered two critical lapses but, to the naked eye, both issues appear to be correctable.

And everything we’ve seen and heard about Graham indicates he can and will make those corrections….

…If it were only so easy to say the same thing about the offense.

To his credit, Mike McCarthy manned up and took responsibility after the game. He went as far as to intimate that he’d seen warning signs in practice (something Mike Tomlin never would have done.)

  • Fair enough. The first step towards solving a problem is to acknowledge it.

The bigger question is now that he’s embraced the elephant in the room, what can he, Brian Angelichio and, perhaps most importantly, offensive line coach James Campen do about it? While no phase of the Steelers offense played winning football against the Patriots, the offensive line was worst of all.

Fixing that won’t magically make D.K. Metcalf win combat catches or propel Roman Wilson to do more than catch check downs, but without better play from the line none of that will matter.

  • Right now, that seems like an impossible task for James Campen.

But let’s remember that after the Steelers dropped a 26-6 decision to the Ravens in week 2 of the 2014 season, no one was calling Mike Munchak an offensive line genius. By the end of the season they were.

So there is hope even if it doesn’t feel like it today. But its up to McCarthy, Angelichio and Campen to translate that hope into reality – and they need to do it fast. Grade: F

Nick Herbig closes in during the Steelers 2026 loss to the Patriots.

Nick Herbig closes in. Photo Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images via the Lexington Herald-Ledger

Unsung Hero Award
He ended the Patriots’ first drive with a forced fumble, he had 3 tackles for losses including one on third down that wrecked another drive, forcing a punt when the Pittsburgh still had a shot at a comeback. For that Nick Herbig wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2026 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

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Steelers Offense Implodes in 20-3 Loss to Patriots at Gillette Stadium

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Week 2 of the 2026 season saw the Pittsburgh Steelers drop a 20 to 3 decision to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

Given the dynamics of NFL scheduling and Steelers tortured history in Foxborough the loss itself should surprise no one.

  • But the Steelers complete offensive impotence should alarm everyone.

Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy manned up, acknowledged his offense’s poor play and took full responsibility. Good for him. The critical question McCarthy must answer now is this: Can we chalk Pittsburgh’s offensive ineptitude to sloppy “September football” or are the Steelers woes more systemic?

Gabe Jackas strip sacks Aaron Rodgers during the Steelers week 2 loss to the Patriots in 2026

How bad was it? This Gabe Jacas hit on Aaron Rodgers wasn’t even a sack…. Photo Credit: AP via the Tribune-Review

SOSO: Same Old Steelers Offense. And Then Some…

Art Rooney Sr. had a term during his franchise’s 40-some-odd years in the wilderness: Same Old Steelers. While the term hasn’t been forgotten, it hasn’t been used much since Chuck Noll’s arrival in 1969.

  • Yet the term certainly applies to the Steelers offense throughout this decade.

Yes, during the first third or maybe even half of the 2020 season, the Steelers fielded an NFL varsity-worthy offense. But outside of that, the 2020s have seen the Steelers win in spite of their offense and almost never because of it.

The remedy, social media commentators have readily assured us:

  • Hire an offensive-minded head coach
  • Surround him with younger, innovative assistants
  • Be more aggressive in improving talent

Art Rooney II hired McCarthy, an offensive minded coach. McCarthy’s staff is well-renowned. Omar Khan has aggressively addressed the offense in the draft, free agency and with multiple trades.

Yet, two games into the 2026 campaign, the Steelers offense not only doesn’t look better than anything Mike Tomlin fielded in 2024 or 2025; against the Patriots it looked worse:

  • The Steelers went 2-12 on third down conversions
  • Patriots defenders sacked Aaron Rodgers 4 times and hit him 7
  • Rodgers suffered not one but two strip sacks
  • Pittsburgh’s best receiver, Germie Bernard caught 4 balls but bobbled a 5th that got picked off
  • D.K. Metcalf, the supposed No. 1 WR, had 4 catches for 27 yards – including garbage time
  • The Steelers defense secured 2 turnovers; the offense squandered both

Those numbers, while bleak, really fail to paint a picture of how pitifully Pittsburgh’s offense failed in Foxborough.

The Steelers offense opened with twin three and outs followed by a missed field goal. After that they opened the third quarter with a workmanlike drive where Rodgers found the rookie Bernard several times and Pat Freiermuth executed the tush push on 4th down.

They made it all the way to the New England 25. A three yard pass to D.K. Metcalf brought up to the 22. Rodgers then tried and failed to find Darnell Washington, bringing up 3rd and 7. Here’s what followed:

Christian Elliss folded Aaron Rodgers in half, knocking the ball loose, and a 3rd & 7 with a very makeable field goal became 4th and 43. Credit Troy Fautanu for recovering the ball, but the Steelers drafted him to protect the quarterback, not recovery strip sacks.

Troy Fautanu recovers a strip sack during the Steelers 2026 week 2 loss to the New England Patriots

Troy Fautanu saves six and recovers a strip sack. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review

A similar self-sabotage sequence unfolded in the 4th quarter when the Steelers, theoretically at least, still had a chance rally.

The Steelers moved the ball deftly with Jaylen Warren’s running and Aaron Rodgers hitting Metcalf and Roman Wilson on underneath routes. At the Patriots 30 , Rodgers hit Warren who zigged, zagged and powered his way 25 yards to the 4. On cue, the Steelers’ offense self-destructed:

  • Elijah Ponder sacked Aaron Rodgers on first down, knocking them 9 yards back.
  • On second Rodgers hit Bernard, who had the ball bounce off his hands and into Gabe Jacas’.

Rodgers saved the touchdown with a tackle, but again, he didn’t stay out of retirement to make tackles.

Sandwiched in between these twin debacles was Christian Barmore’s strip sack of Rodgers and Elijah Ponder’s recovery of the ball that he returned for a touchdown.

There’s no sugar coating how bad the Steelers offense was against the Patriots. Sure, Warren, Rico Dowdle and Travis Homer logged some nice runs, but the running game never broached establishing a rhythm.

The offensive line deserves every ounce of criticism coming its way, but the truth is that several of Rodgers’ passes were off target and, when they weren’t, his receivers weren’t giving him any help.

Steelers Defense Solid Despite Lapses

Only 7 of the Patriots points were supplied by their defense. Their offense scored 13 more, not including a missed field goal. The truth is, the Steelers defense played well enough to win.

Patrick Queen intercepts Derek Maye in the 3rd quarter.

Patrick Queen Intercepts Derrick Maye. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review

No, they didn’t deliver a 5 turnover performance that propelled the Steelers to victory in New England this time last year. But one has to wonder if would have been sufficient with this offense. Still, Patrick Graham’s defense made its share of splash plays:

The offense, however, only netted 4 yards following that fumble, although they were not helped by Jalen Ramsey’s jawboning that cost the offense 15 yards.

There were other lapses of course. New England’s only touchdown came on a 39-yard run where TreVeyon Henderson sliced through the middle of the Steelers defense with only Asante Samuel Jr. barely getting a hand on him.

Romeo Doubs also found a gaping hole in the Steelers secondary to steal a 63 yard reception, although Patrick Graham’s defense held there, forcing a field goal.

But when a defense holds an NFL offense to 13 points is playing winning football.

Take Away for Mike McCarthy: Stop the Offense from Self-Destructing

In beating the Falcons last week, Mike McCarthy joined his three immediate predecessors by winning his first game as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Alas, in week two he continued to follow in Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin’s footsteps, as both men lost their first games at Gillette Stadium, and lost them badly. These parallels are useful because they sharpen the focus on McCarthy’s challenge this morning.

Bill Cowher lost his first game at Gillette, because he couldn’t stop Bill Belichick’s spread offense. Mike Tomlin lost his in his first visit to New England because Tom Brady, in route to a 19-1 season, toasted his secondary.

  • In both cases, it wasn’t a question of scheme but rather one of talent.

Neither coach could find in-season fixes the fundamental deficiencies plaguing their defenses, but both men led their Steelers squads to division titles.

  • Its Mike McCarthy’s offense that needs fixing.

Whether talent or scheme is driving its disfunction remains to be seen, but the best good take away from the loss to the Patriots for McCarthy is a simple one:  Find away to stop his offense from self-destructing whenever it reaches scoring position.

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Is There Solution to Sloppy September Football? Maybe, Maybe Not….

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Steelers scribes can use lots of adjectives to describe McCarthy’s inaugural win in Pittsburgh, but the one that best suits it is “sloppy” – a descriptor that applies to both teams.

D.K. Metcalf with one of several drops in the Steelers 2026 opening day win over the Falcons.

D.K. Metcalf drops another pass. Photo Credit: Matt Freed, Post-Gazette

Numbers don’t lie and they tell a disheveled tale:

  • The Steelers and Falcons combined to miss 3 field goals
  • Add one more “what was that?” botched field goal attempt
  • The Steelers and Falcons accepted a total of 13 penalties for over 150 yards
  • Aaron Rodgers targeted D.K. Metcalf 10 times and only came away with 4 catches
  • The Falcons and the Steelers went a cumulative 5 for 25 on third downs
  • For the record, the Steelers were 0 for 2 on fourth downs

OK. Those conversion stats present a double-edge sword, because the takeaway could easily be that the defense was playing exceptionally well. If you look at how Alex Highsmith ended Atlanta’s opening and closing drives with sacks, that conclusion has merit.

Mike McCarthy acknowledged the “herky jerky” nature of his offense and chalked the sloppiness up to “September football.” So be it. That’s now the norm in the NFL.

  • But the better question is:  Must it really be that way?

We know the reason: With each passing year, coaches play starters and even first-line backups less and less in preseason. And that has consequences, as Bob Labriola laid out about a year ago in “Asked and Answered.” Responding to a question about early season sloppiness, the Steelers Digest editor explained:

Once the regular season begins, a team doesn’t need to be a well-oiled machine to win games; it just needs to be better than that week’s particular opponent. Since no teams give significant playing time to their starters during the preseason, there are no well-oiled machines in the NFL in September. Or even into early October.

Two questions later, in the same chat, Labriola pointed to the goal of protecting starters from injuries, indicating that coaches will err on the side of keeping players healthy.

Fair enough.

The days of Chuck Noll using the final preseason game as his “dress rehearsal” where he’d play presumptive starters well into the 4th quarter are long gone.

Metcalf didn’t play a down in preseason and he had two egregious drops. Now, no one will ever confuse Metcalf’s pass-catching ability with Antonio Brown’s. But his 40% catch rate is 20 points below his career average. In this game, that translates to 2 catches. And one of Metcalf’s drops would have been a game changer.

  • It is tempting to wonder whether Metcalf would have been sharper with even a few preseason reps under his belt.

Couldn’t an enterprising coach create a competitive edge by finding a happy medium between playing starters just long enough to knock off the rust while keeping them healthy?

  • Maybe, maybe not.

We’ll likely never know the answer to the question.

The Steelers went into the game healthy, not counting DeShon Elliott and, er um, Joey Porter Jr., and came out of the game healthy. And the Steelers, while sloppy, were less sloppy than the Falcons.

So maybe it is OK that we’ll never learn the answer to the question.

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Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for Win Over Falcons: New Era Edition

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Taken from the grade book of a teacher excited to welcome both new students and a new era, here is the Report Card for the 2026 Steelers season-opening win over the Falcons at Acrisure Stadium.

Darnell Washington stiff arms Xavier Watts.

Darnell Washington lets Xavier Watts know who is boss. Photo Credit: Jordan Perez, Steelers.com

Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers went 24 of 40 for 221 yards and one touchdown. Rodgers looked comfortable and in command of the offense, made good decisions and suffered too many drops. Grade: BSteelers, Report Card, grades,

Running Backs
Jaylen Warren carried 10 times for 46 yards but coughed up the ball setting up Atlanta’s only touchdown. Warren also caught 5 passes for 27 yards. Rico Dowdle carried 8 times for 15 yards and caught 2 passes for 6 yards. The Steelers running backs didn’t keep any Fantasy Football owners happy but Warren did move the chains late in the game. Grade: C-

Tight Ends
Pat Freiermuth had a solid afternoon catching 5 passes for 46 yards for the team’s only touchdown. He also blocked well. Darnell Washington only caught 2 passes for 18 yards and it is tempting to give the group an “A” just for his 15 yard catch (see the lead photo.) We won’t go that far, but the tight ends were easily the strongest unit on the offense. Grade: B+

Wide Receivers
D.K. Metcalf caught 4 passes on 10 targets. He was robbed of a long gain by a non-pass interference call, but dropped a highly catchable ball that he could have taken to the house. Roman Wilson caught 3 passes on 6 targets but gave up a combat catch in the end zone. Michael Pittman Jr. had the best day of the trio, catching 3 for 58, and brings the group grade up. Grade: D

Offensive Line
This was an area of worry going into the game, but the line was OK. Aaron Rodgers only gave up two sacks and had more time to pass than he did a year ago. Dylan Cook still looks uneasy a right tackle and Spencer Anderson also had some difficult moments, but the center and the left of the line had a solid afternoon. Grade: C

Defensive Line
Is there anything that Cam Heyward can’t do? He stuffed  Bijan Robinson on a number of occasions and batted down 3 passes. The Steelers defensive line didn’t put up gaudy statistics, but they contained Robinson, which was critical to the success of the rest of the defense. Grade: B+

Linebackers
Payton Wilson led the group with 13 tackles including 2 for losses and was all over the field. Patrick Queen was next with 7. Nick Herbig was on the field for 60% of the snaps making 2 tackles and one QB hit. Alex Highsmith ended the Falcons opening and closing drives with sacks. The real star was T.J. Watt who was in Hall of Fame form with 2 tackles, 2 for losses, 1 pass batted down, 2 sacks and 1 pick six. Grade: A

Secondary
A brand new secondary started for the Steelers compared to what was on the field the last time they opened a season vs the Falcons in 2024. And the new unit played well. Neither Jamel Dean’s nor Asante Samuel Jr.’s name was heard much and for both cornerbacks that was a good thing. Jalen Ramsey was likely out of position on one of Robinson’s long gains, but he did step up with a critical pass defense. And Pittsburgh native Jaquan Brisker hauled in an interception that set up the first TD. Grade: A-

Special Teams
Jim Wexell quoted the legendary Bill Nunn as saying that Danny Smith was the most well-organized special teams coach he’d ever seen. After watching the Steelers special teams’ first game without Smith since 2013, that’s easy to believe.

Eli Heidenreich and Kaden Wetjen had solid though not spectacular debuts as return men. But the Steelers coverage units gave up more than you’d like to see, and had a long gain against them reversed by a penalty. Chris Boswell went 2-3 missing a makeable field goal, and the entire unit lost another with a “what was that?” moment. Clearly, Danny Crossman has work to do. Grade: D

Coaching
The last time someone other than Mike Tomlin coached the Steelers, MySpace dominated social media, Twitter was in its infancy and if you wanted to rent a movie, you drove to Blockbuster.

Outside of a handful of exceptions, this was an end-to-end overhaul of the Steelers coaching staff, and by and large new head coach Mike McCarthy and his coaches did well in their first game with Pittsburgh.

For all of the criticism of the new Steelers offense looking the same as the old offense, Mike McCarthy and Brian Angelichio’s play design and play calling choices differed greatly from what Pittsburgh has seen. And with just a little better execution, the score would have been very different.

Patrick Graham has no shortage of weapons to use on defense, and he deployed them wisely. This allowed several key players to step up at critical moments and this was the difference in the game.

September football is synonymous with sloppy football. The Steelers were no exception. But Pittsburgh was better prepared than Atlanta as the final score indicates. Grade: B

Derrick Harmon, Jack Sawyer and Payton Wilson gang tackle Brian Robinson during the Steelers win over the Falcons.

Jack Sawyer helps gang tackle Brian Robinson. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Unsung Hero Award
Sometimes less is more. T.J. Watt played well all day, but he exploded in the last 18 minutes. We’ve seen that before but not for a while. Over the past 3 seasons, Watt has played over 80% of the defensive snaps. Against the Falcons it was in the low 60s. And he was able to do that because a young, second-year defender was able to come in and spell him, and for that Jack Sawyer wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2026 opening-day win over the Atlanta Falcons.

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The Mike McCarthy Era Begins as Steelers Beat Falcons 20-13 at Acrisure Stadium

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The Mike McCarthy era began as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 20-13 at Acrisure Stadium to open the 2026 season.

In securing victory, Mike McCarthy now joins his three immediate predecessors, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin in winning his first game as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But, in an ironic nod to continuity, we can explain McCarthy’s first win by leaning into a time-tested Tomlinism: “Players play, coaches coach.”

T.J. Watt intercepts Cooper Rush and Jawaan Taylor cannot stop him.

T.J. Watt intercepts Cooper Rush in the 4th quarter. Photo Credit: Taylor Ollason, Steelers.com

Meet the New Steelers Offense, Same as the Old Steelers Offense?

Pittsburgh has fielded “pedestrian” offenses, put generously, since Ben Roethlisberger threw out his arm against Seattle in 2019.

And the consensus remedy for all that ailed the Steelers offense according to fans, podcasters and professional commentators alike has been to replace Mike Tomlin with an offensive-minded head coach.

That’s what Art Rooney II did when he hired Mike McCarthy. And, with one game out of 17 in the books, we can say that the new Steelers offense looks an awful lot like the old.

  • Steelers running backs couldn’t crack 60 yards total rushing
  • Its leading wide receiver caught 3 balls for 58 yards
  • The unit went 3 of 13 on third downs
  • It scored one touchdown and put up the same number of points as Atlanta’s offense

There were positives. Aaron Rodgers was only sacked twice – although he was hit a total of 6 times. Pat Freiermuth had the type of afternoon that eluded him last season, scoring the team’s only touchdown.

Michael Pittman Jr. caught 3 of 3 balls thrown his way and looked better than any other Steelers WR No. 2 has had in years.

  • The same can’t really be said for WR No. 1, D.K. Metcalf.

Aaron Rodgers looked to him early and often, yet Metcalf only came down with 4 balls that came his way. To be fair to Metcalf, Rodgers hit him perfectly on a deep, sideline route that most certainly should have been called as pass interference.

But, in one of those coveted “passes over the middle” at the tail end of the third quarter, Rodgers delivered the ball perfectly, and Metcalf couldn’t hold on. Had he caught the ball, it is possible that none of the defense’s 4th quarter fireworks would have been necessary.

A.J. Terrell breaks up a long pass intended for D.K. Metcalf in the Steelers 2026 opening day win over the Falcons.

D.K. Metcalf can’t quite hold on as A.J. Terrell interferes. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Roman Wilson got his most extensive, non-garbage time play of his career thus far, and the results were mixed. He did come away with 3 catches for 26 yards, which is OK, but he dropped a touchdown in the end zone.

To be fair, a flag could have been thrown on that pass too, but like Metcalf, Wilson must start finding ways to win these combat catches.

The deep shots that Mike McCarthy and Brian Angelichio took down the middle indicate that the coaching duo was trying to do something different on offense. But the execution left a lot to be desired.

  • How did it go again? “Players play, coaches coach?”

There were a few other hopeful signs at the tail end of the game, as we shall see.

The “Other” 10 on the Steelers Defense

Given what we saw in the 4th quarter, one could be forgiven for forgetting that there were 10 other players at any given moment whose name did not start and end with a “T.”

  • But it was far from a one-man show for the Steelers defense.

Much has been made of the “most expensive defense in the NFL” for the last several seasons. Football historians can debate that at their convenience, against the Atlanta Falcons in the 2026 opener, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense earned their money:

  • Payton Wilson led in tackles, including 2 for losses and was all over the field
  • Jalen Ramsey stepped up and broke up a pass, negating a long gain early on
  • Alex Highsmith wrecked Atlanta’s opening and closing drives with sacks
  • Newcomer Jaquan Brisker set up the Steelers only touchdown with a late 2nd quarter interception

And Cam Heyward, the legendary defensive lineman who seems to be making a parallel late career case to do double duty as a defensive back, led the team with 3 passes defensed, and as usual was a force up front at all other times.

Jalen Ramsey breaks up what would have been a long one to Kyle Pitts in the Steelers 2026 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Jalen Ramsey breaks up a pass to Kyle Pitts. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

It is true, the Steelers were facing second-string quarterback Cooper Rush, who himself had injury issues going into the game. But Atlanta has weapons on offense. Bijan Robinson is one of the NFL’s most dangerous rushers. Robinson had a respectable day, but never threatened to take over the game.

And while the Steelers offense only converted three third downs, that was 50% more than the Falcons, who converted two. Patrick Graham is already earning accolades from the social media chorus for calling a much better game than Mike Tomlin or Teryl Austin would have.

  • And Graham does deserve credit.

But, the entire Steelers defense was firing on all cylinders. And if they hadn’t been, it may not have mattered. Because the 11th player on the field was performing on a different level.

T.J. Watt Grounds the Falcons

Neither 2024 nor 2025 were kind to T.J. Watt. In 2024 Watt started off strong, but an undisclosed injury hampered him late in the season, just as the Steelers entered their critical late-season stretch.

Watt’s lightning quick tackles of Derrick Henry, when in fact Lamar Jackson had the ball, seemed emblematic of everything wrong with the Steelers defense during the 2024 season’s playoff ridiculing suffered at the hands of the Ravens.

Watt had his moments in 2025 and played better than his 7 sacks suggest, but he still appeared to be a player in decline.

His name wasn’t called much early in the game against the Falcons, aside from a sack late in the first half. And late in the 3rd quarter, Joe Davis and Greg Olsen got to talking about Watt’s decline in play.

T.J. Watt with one of two sacks of Cooper Rush in the Steelers 2026 opening day win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Watt breaks a hold to sack Cooper Rush. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

If you didn’t know better, you’d have thought Watt was listening.

Because on the next play he stopped Robinson for a loss. Then, despite being blatantly held, he sacked Cooper Rush, helping to force Atlanta to settle for a field goal.

  • Unfortunately for the Falcons, Watt was only getting warmed up.

The field goal gave Atlanta 10 points, putting them within three of Pittsburgh. The fourth quarter was just starting. The Steelers offense followed with one of those three-and-outs that looked way too familiar to the fare the Fitchner, Canada and Smith offenses treated fans to.

Atlanta ended the 3rd quarter with a 20-yard Bijan Robinson run: The Falcons appeared to be taking flight as the 4th quarter began.

T.J. Watt thought otherwise.

Watt opened the 4th quarter by stoning Robinson for no gain on first down. On second down, after Patrick Graham radioed in the play, Patrick Queen looked at Watt and told him, “Bro, go get me one.” This was Watt’s response:

There are 3 things to take away from this play:

  1. It took incredible concentration for Watt to intercept that ball
  2. Watt’s commitment to playing to the whistle drives him to get up and finish the play
  3. Notice how Benton, Ramsey and Wilson rally to ensure Watt makes it to the end zone

Yes it is a long season. Yes, Watt will have to sustain this level.

But I have pretty good feeling pushing the “Watt’s Washed Up” storyline in the Atlanta Falcons locker room this morning would be a pretty hard sell.

A Finish the Steelers Offense Can Build On?

The Steelers offensive performance did feature a different, hopeful wrinkle. After Highsmith ended the Falcons’ final drive, the Steelers got the ball back with 4:16 remaining.

In just about any similar situation during the post-Roethlisberger era, it would have been nail-biting time. Not against the Falcons. Rodgers opened with passes to Metcalf, Pittman and Darnell Washington.

From there Rico Dowdle and Jaylen Warren banged out 4 and 9 yard runs respectively, allowing Mike McCarthy to deploy the victory formation.

This wasn’t exactly the type of attrition football that we witnessed in the days when Jerome Bettis or Le’Veon Bell salted away games. But seeing the Steelers spend the final minute of the game taking a knee as opposed to watching their DBs scramble around playing prevent defense was a welcome change.

Perhaps that’s something that Mike McCarthy can build on.

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