Steelers get warning ahead of Mike McCarthy's inaugural season

The Pittsburgh Steelers closed out their 2025-26 season in the No. 1 spot in the AFC North, and while that came with bragging rights, they weren't able to capitalize on the momentum enough to get past the wild-card round against the Houston Texans.

Looking ahead to the 2026-27 season, the team has a new head coach in Mike McCarthy following Mike Tomlin's departure, but he's getting a warning before the team even plays its first game.

Kevin Patra of NFL.com has a feature out, which dropped on Wednesday, naming the most and least vulnerable NFL division champs.

"Each defender is vulnerable," he states in the piece. "Plenty of contenders have improved this offseason to make their case for swiping their division."

Steelers and Mike McCarthy cautioned ahead of 2026 season

Patra has the Steelers as the No. 1 most vulnerable NFL division champ in the league.

"Pittsburgh is once again in the middle of Aaron Rodgers drama," he notes in the piece. "Even if the future Hall of Famer plays, he's still 42. Rodgers played well in spurts last year, but wasn't a top-15 QB."

Patra adds that if Rodgers doesn't return, "those issues are magnified. The Ravens and Bengals each improved this offseason. A new coaching staff in Baltimore should bring life to the team, particularly on defense. Cincinnati bolstered a moribund defense significantly."

He adds that if Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson don't get injured, "10 wins isn't taking the division again."

It's fair to say that whenever a division champion gets the No. 1 spot with just 10 wins, as the Steelers did, it means the division was weak and could be deemed a lucky showing. But, the team added Michael Pittman Jr. in a trade and second-round receiver Germie Bernard in the draft, and having those two in the fold should help this offense. So long as Rodgers decides to come back, the Steelers have reason to hope, so don't count the Terrible Towels out just yet.