Upon reaching their mid-season bye, the Pittsburgh Steelers started their season 6-2 for the 21st time in the Super Bowl era. They did so seven times under Mike Tomlin. So, yes, the early season optimism is a feeling that is far too familiar in Pittsburgh.
But doesn’t it feel just a little bit different this year?
Instead of Tomlin, it’s Mike McCarthy leading the way. He’s filled his staff with assistants that are smart football guys that aren’t yes men. The tenured players like Cam Heyward and TJ Watt wasted no time buying into what McCarthy had been selling despite playing for Tomlin their entire careers. That’s a pretty big deal.
A once dormant offense seems to have found an identity now. Jaylen Warren is the feature back but don’t forget about Rico Dowdle as an appealing appetizer. The quarterback is on the wrong side of 40 but you wouldn’t know it by watching him play.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not going to hide from the fact that the Steelers’ wide receiver room currently leaves a bit to be desired. Adding a Josh Downs or, even more enticingly, a Garrett Wilson would unquestionably make the Steelers a top-three team in the AFC. I’d go as far as saying a top-five team in the entire league.
The offensive line brutalizes people. They can be better in pass protection and that cohesion will come with time together. In run protection, they literally take on the identity of Warren and just obliterate people. Warren’s Offensive Player of the Year-esque start hasn’t just been because he runs like a “bowling ball with teeth” as Watt so affectionately referred to him as following their steam-rolling of the Browns.
The offensive line has paved the way for him and has done so since the insertion of Max Iheanchor and Brock Hoffman on the right side of that line.
Hell, I haven’t even spoken a word about the best unit on the team.
Is there really anything bad to say about the defense? Go through all eleven guys at the top of the depth chart at their position. Who’s the biggest “hole” on the defensive side of the ball right now?
Patrick Queen?
He’s had some clunkers but he and Payton Wilson have become one of the more formidable duo’s in the NFL at inside linebacker.
“But they traded Joey Porter Jr.!”
Jamel Dean has been everything you could want and more. Daylen Everette has steadily improved as his playing time heightened out of necessity. Asante Samuel Jr. is what he is: a solid player that won’t “wow” you that also comes with injury concerns.
Jaylen Ramsey? Hall-of-Famer. Jaquan Brisker and DeShon Elliott? Gamers. Absolute dogs. I want them on my side 10/10 times.
Have you found the crippling concern yet?
“Who have the Steelers beaten?”
Sure, they’ve hit a string of backup or underperforming quarterbacks but let me also offer you this. It’s not who they’ve beaten but more how they’ve beaten them.
Bijan Robinson and Jonathan Taylor are two of the premier running backs in the National Football League. The Steelers shut down both and essentially guaranteed a win in doing so. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins got their numbers against the Steelers defense combining for 188 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
You might want to sit down for this next sentence…
The Steelers still won in a shootout. Yes, those Steelers. In 2026.
Jaylon Daniels rose to the occasion and took the Steelers to the overtime brink. Aaron Rodgers controlled the ball and essentially made Daniels run a two-minute drill to win the game. That ended exactly how you picture it would.
And in the last two weeks? The Browns and the Saints combined for 52(!) rushing yards. Rodgers, the 41-year old quarterback I must remind you, had more rushing yards against the Saints than any running back on their team.
They are finally capable of winning games in more than one way. The formerly one-dimensional offense has more capabilities now because the run game is so potent and teams have to now plan against a wide open playbook.
I want to preface this next part by saying I am not calling the Steelers the best team in the AFC. I would still favor the teams that have Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes captaining their offenses. But I don’t think a single team's comparative roster is more complete than Pittsburgh’s in the AFC.
So, what AFC team can the Steelers not compete with?
Josh Allen has yet to reach a Super Bowl because the Bills refuse to give him enough help to do so. Even Superman can’t do everything himself. The Chiefs are good, not to be confused with great. The Jaguars might be finding a stride on both sides of the ball and I’d argue that maybe that’s the team I would be most scared of. But Trevor Lawrence hasn’t won CB yet.
Then there’s the second-tier teams.
Denver? Come on. The Steelers will dispose of them in a few weeks because Bo Nix won’t ever win a championship in his career.
The Patriots beat the Steelers earlier this season but if they have to come to Acrisure in January, I’ll be taking Pittsburgh in that one.
Cleveland will finish at best 8-9 and miss the playoffs after their disheartening loss to the Steelers. Cincinnati? I’m worried about Burrow and I reserve the right to change that opinion if the Steelers lose that game after the bye in convincing fashion. But that defense still doesn’t make me believe they can do anything of note. They just squeaked by the 1-7 Tennessee Titans in overtime…AT HOME.
From this point of view, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the most complete team in the AFC. But I don’t think this 6-2 feels like as much of a mirage as some of the other 6-2 starts the Steelers have had. There is staying power here.
I’m not projecting Super Bowl aspirations quite yet. But I’m as close as a Pittsburgher’s drive to Cleveland in saying that 2026 will be the first time the Steelers win a playoff game in 10 years.