Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense had its fair share of problems under Arthur Smith. The unit struggled to find consistency throughout the year, and while Aaron Rodgers had nice moments, he’s too limited to carry an offense on his own anymore.
Some believe Rodgers won’t have to do that with Mike McCarthy coming to Pittsburgh in 2026. McCarthy and Rodgers had loads of success together in Green Bay, and they’ll hope their second chapter together reaps similar rewards. But that’s not something analyst Nate Tice is especially confident in.
“When contact is coming, [Rodgers] is flinging [the ball] out. Or that’s why he got rid of it so quickly,” Tice said Friday on the Football America show. “You can do that if you have a bunch of freaks at receiver or running back that are breaking 10 tackles; you can live that way. But the Steelers didn’t have that last year…It’s very safe, it’s very quick timing. And they didn’t have the horses to make that work. So, I’m not really encouraged, because Mike McCarthy is going to run more of the same.”
Tice isn’t wrong; McCarthy may do some similar things. As experienced as Aaron Rodgers is, his brain is one of his better traits. It’s particularly valuable heading into a season where he will turn 43 with a declining body. He’s going to make his changes at the line of scrimmage, and McCarthy will likely trust him to do so.
As we saw last year, that may result in him getting rid of the ball quickly. Tice is also right that the Steelers didn’t have the weapons to make that work in 2025. But Pittsburgh will hope Rodgers’ biggest improvements come from a better supporting cast around him.
Last year, the Steelers had DK Metcalf as the only somewhat consistent option at wide receiver. With younger receivers who didn’t have the experience Rodgers preferred, things didn’t work out too well. However, Michael Pittman Jr. slots in as an immediate upgrade at WR2. As a veteran who knows how to get to his spots quickly, he should be a big weapon for Rodgers. And his presence across from Metcalf will open things up for the latter.
There’s also hope that Roman Wilson will step up in his third year. But even if he doesn’t, Germie Bernard is another potential WR3 who should fit well with Rodgers. If Tice is right, and the Steelers want to dump the ball off to a player who can break 10 tackles, Bernard is capable of doing so. If he can quickly find his form at the NFL level, he will significantly help Rodgers.
With a quarterback this old, this offense’s ceiling isn’t incredibly high. But the Steelers will hope the talent they added around Aaron Rodgers is enough to prove Tice wrong this year.
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