The Pittsburgh Steelers made a lot of changes this offseason, from the coaching staff to the roster itself.
On paper, those changes seem to make the Steelers a much better team top to bottom than the one that closed the 2025 season with a whimper in a blowout playoff loss at home.
Yet they continue to be viewed as a team outside of the playoff picture, and one that has virtually no shot at truly competing for a division title or even a run in the playoffs.
ESPN’s Football Power Index gave the Steelers minuscule playoff and Super Bowl odds Wednesday. Now FOX Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano ranks the Steelers with the likes of the Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants and Washington Commanders in the bottom half of the league entering 2026.
“I know, I know. The Steelers are the defending AFC North champions and probably deserve a better tier than this,” Vacchiano writes. “That’s a reasonable argument, except that they had one of the NFL’s worst offenses (25th) and one of the NFL’s worst defenses (26th) last season, despite going 10-7. They also lost their longtime head coach (though Mike McCarthy is a pretty good replacement for Mike Tomlin), didn’t add a lot to their defense and are still relying on a 42-year-old quarterback.
“RB Rico Dowdle and WR Michael Pittman [Jr.] make them better. But the revived Ravens and Bengals make the division better, too.”
As the defending AFC North champions, and a team that made improvements across the board, the Steelers should be garnering a bit more respect. But they aren’t at the moment, and that might be tied to the return of 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Though Rodgers has reunited with Mike McCarthy, working with the same head coach he had much of his Hall of Fame success with, he’s another year older and didn’t look good in the playoff loss to Houston, raising questions about the Steelers running it back another year with him.
However, after the additions of Michael Pittman Jr, Rico Dowdle, Jamel Dean, Jaquan Brisker and more in free agency, plus a strong draft focused on offense, the Steelers appear better.
Factor in the additions to the coaching staff, especially defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, and the belief is the highly compensated defense will take a significant step forward, making the Steelers more formidable.
The only issue is, the division is better with the Bengals having one heck of an offseason, and the Ravens resetting under new head coach Jesse Minter. Will that be enough to dethrone the Steelers? Many seem to believe so.
That’s why they play the games on the field though.
Recommended for you