Mike McCarthy Week One
Mike McCarthy Week One
With Week One officially here, it’s worth examining how Mike McCarthy has fared in season openers. A quick examination of his results from his previous stops in Green Bay and Dallas.
From 2006 through 2018, McCarthy had a strong Week One mark with the Packers. During that span, Green Bay went 9-4. He lost his Green Bay debut in 2006, an ugly 26-0 shutout to NFC North rival Chicago. He bounced back to win his next five season openers before hitting a three-game skid from 2012-2014. McCarthy got himself back in the win column in each of his final four tries, bookending his tenure with a one-point win over the Bears in 2018.
Dallas was a different story. Across five seasons, he went 2-3 with the Cowboys. He lost his first three Week Ones before finding his stride in 2024 and 2025, winning by a combined 77-17 total.
That puts McCarthy’s career total at 11-7 to open a season.
Mike Tomlin was generally successful in Week One. Across his 19 seasons, he went 12-6-1 with that oddball tie against the Cleveland Browns to begin 2018. Over his last six seasons, he went 5-1 although his loss was a crushing 30-7 home defeat to the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.
History is just that and each year brings new circumstances. The Steelers are in good position to open 2026 with a win. The Atlanta Falcons have a muddied quarterback situation and will either start a struggling Tua Tagovailoa or a rusty Michael Penix Jr. coming off a torn ACL who didn’t play a preseason snap. The defense is missing its top two pass rushers and like the Steelers, are adjusting to a new coaching staff under Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski knows the Steelers well from his Cleveland Browns’ tenure but that only matters so much now that Pittsburgh has a new coat of paint, too.
Pittsburgh are favorites for a reason. The margin might even be generous to Atlanta. If McCarthy loses this one, it might be the most disappointing opening defeat of his career.