The Pittsburgh Steelers hired seasoned head coach Mike McCarthy in the hopes of immediately getting better on offense. But despite the unit filled veterans, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who McCarthy won a Super Bowl with while coaching the Green Bay Packers, the Steelers offense is still struggling.
As a result, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon is thoroughly unimpressed with the start of McCarthy’s coaching tenure in Pittsburgh.
On Friday, Gagnon graded all 10 new head coaches around the NFL this season. McCarthy received a D-plus from the BR analyst.
Only Baltimore Ravens new head coach Jesse Minter received a worst grade.
“The offense has scored touchdowns on just four of nine red-zone trips. Only three units in the NFL have been worse at converting third downs,” wrote Gagnon. “That explains why they rank in the bottom 10 in scoring overall.
“The playmaking defense is the main reason they’re 2-2 against a so-so schedule.”
Grading Mike McCarthy’s Start With Pittsburgh Steelers
It’s early to be grading first-year NFL head coaches. But four games is a large enough sample size to begin sees trends around the league. The early trends with the Steelers aren’t particularly good.
While the team is experienced at the skilled positions, the offensive line is young and developing. Four of the team’s five starters are in new positions or rookies. That’s led to some growing pains in run blocking and pass protection.
Injuries have hurt the unit too. Jaylen Warren has been an incredible workhorse the past two games, but he’s played an unsustainable 94% of the team’s offensive snaps because Rico Dowdle is sidelined. On Thursday, McCarthy told reporters starting wideout Michael Pittman Jr. would miss multiple weeks.
McCarthy will have to get on the same page with Rodgers for the offense to improve. At times, the Steelers have gone with a heavy personnel of two tight ends. Pittsburgh’s offense has generally been better in those situations.
But on other occasions, McCarthy’s offense looks closer to something he would have run in 2014 with Rodgers in Green Bay. The Steelers have also been too lopsided with passing plays at times too.
The good news is the Steelers offense has been more explosive than Mike Tomlin’s last season. Pittsburgh has also continued to not beat itself.
“Despite the slow overall start, McCarthy’s offense does rank in the top 10 in the league with 17 plays of 20-plus yards. The Steelers are the league’s fifth-least-penalized team through four weeks,” wrote Gagnon.
However, that was only enough for McCarthy to avoid a failing grade. For McCarthy to get a much better grade at the midseason point, the Steelers are going to have to more the ball with greater ease and score more points.
Steelers’ Mike McCarthy Gets Terrible Grade at Quarter Mark of 2026 NFL Season