2026 Steelers schedule

They have 8 home games and 9 away

And they are a middle of the road team

So 8-9 or 7-10 seems logical

The difference will be if the player and staff additions are better than last year

I just want to see steady improvement from game one to game 19 and I will be happy for this year

Then continuing improvement in 2027

 

Get ready for the flexing..... make no mistake, Rodgers' return is Steeler fans' reward; prime time games



Aaron Rodgers’ Retirement Plans Could Force NFL to Make Schedule Changes

Aaron Rodgers will retire after the 2026 season. It is going to be a big moment in NFL history, as it will formally close one of its most prominent chapters. But his return has also made for lucrative financial opportunities. The Baltimore Ravens have hiked up the prices for their Week 17 clash. This came after Rodgers said, “This is it.” As the season goes on, the NFL might be forced to make some adjustments to give fans what they want: an Aaron Rodgers farewell.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote that the league could easily reshuffle the Steelers’ schedule later in the year to maximize ratings. But could constant flex scheduling become a distraction for Rodgers and the Steelers during a playoff push in December? That possibility now hangs over Pittsburgh.

Rodgers made a peculiar choice of announcing his retirement before the season. In recent times, no franchise QB has handled his NFL retirement this way, including Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger quietly told people in private that 2021 would be his last year in the NFL.

Last year, the NFL built its schedule before Aaron Rodgers announced his commitment to the Steelers. NFL VP of broadcast planning Mike North later admitted that if the league had known Rodgers would sign with the Steelers, the team’s Week 1 matchup against the New York Jets likely would have landed in a national television window. The NFL may have adjusted several other games, too, if Rodgers or the Steelers had tipped their hand earlier.

By announcing that 2026 will be his last season, Aaron Rodgers did something that very few NFL quarterbacks do: He has set up a Derek Jeter-style farewell tour.

The league might have expected that Pittsburgh and Rodgers would ‘owe them one’ this year, too.

But since the stakes were much higher, the league decided to play it safe and give the Steelers four primetime games. Only one of them comes before Week 10. But four is a good enough frequency for a team to create an impact. The league didn’t hand out those later standalone games to put QBs Drew Allar, Will Howard, or Mason Rudolph under the spotlight. Rodgers clearly remains the draw.

Of course, the NFL can still flex those late-season games if the Steelers struggle. But the Steelers could have received more prime-time exposure had the league known Rodgers was returning. The Los Angeles Rams made for a better selling point with Matthew Stafford and got seven primetime games. He’d confirmed his decision to play the 2026 season in last year’s NFC Championship.

Whether or not Aaron Rodgers ends up taking that spotlight away and forcing the NFL to turn it his way will only be decided later in the year. However, there are some who are skeptical about the hype behind this grand goodbye for the Steelers QB.

Aaron Rodgers’ return ‘not relevant’
Of course, Rodgers deserves a proper send-off. Rodgers has been in the league for more than two decades now, with a career that puts him in the debate behind who is the NFL’s goat. But according to famed ‘Pardon the Interruption’ broadcaster Mike Wilbon, Rodgers’ retirement decision is being exaggerated, and has something relevant.

“He had a great career that’s going to result in the wearing of a gold jacket in the Hall of Fame, as it should be,” he said on ESPN’s Get Up. “This notion, that he and the Steelers are relevant, to what? Not even in their own division!

“They are gonna be the third team chosen in their own division behind Baltimore for sure, and likely Cincinnati. …It’s not relevant anymore.”

The Steelers’ schedule ranks in the middle when compared to all the teams. But within the division, theirs is the hardest. The most difficult stretch of games right after the Week 10 game, which includes the Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Texans, Jaguars, and Ravens. There is a bye in between, but that probably won’t bring much relief. The Steelers will have to fight four teams that were in the playoffs last year, and two of them are division rivals.

Aaron Rodgers’ return, and proclaimed exit, masks the severity of this schedule. He is a big part of the picture for Pittsburgh; if the team has any shot at the Super Bowl, it will only be possible with him in play. But Rodgers alone will not move the needle for the team’s chances to be in the playoffs. If the league makes some changes to this part of Pittsburgh’s schedule, things might change.

 

The NFL made the Steelers and Ravens the last game of the season because it could be a good matchup and it could be a good game for a flex the NFL has done this before

It had nothing to do with Rodgers

Baltimore raised ticket prices because it could be a good game and it’s the Steelers they have done this before even the Steelers do this

It had nothing to do with Rodgers

 

Steelers have 5 prime time games. They don't get that many with Rudolph, Howard or Allar at QB...

 

Actually that is exactly what happened

They start working on the schedule the day after the season is over

Rodgers signed after the schedule came out

The Steelers are a good draw that is why they every year get a bunch of prime time games

 

Be interesting to see how this plays out. Tomlin was one of the better HCs as a dog. Dunno about MM's record.

 

Mike McCarthy has a career regular-season record of approximately 36-39-1 straight-up (SU) and 41-33-2 against the spread (ATS) when listed as an underdog.

Tomlin's records as an underdog:

• Against the Spread (ATS): 70-42-5 (62%), making him one of the most profitable head coaches against the spread in the league.
• Straight Up (SU): 53-30-4 (64% win rate) when entering the game as the underdog.

Tomlin as a Large Favorite: He has lost 18 games outright when his team was favored by 6.5 points or more.

 

At least one fan agrees with you....

 

Well if Benny Yinzer said it….

I wounded if this is Benny Lava

 

I'm not sure 9-8 will get them into the playoffs.

 

I dont have Pittsburgh making the playoffs though.

 

This.

For the Steelers to not be a big draw, it would take a period of time in which the Steelers have absymal season after absymal season.

 

Rodgers made his decision right after the draft. And if you remember, the schedule was actually released a week or so after they usually released it, citing "negotiations". I suspect Rodgers returning hit league offices long before the final schedule was released and there was some tv jockeying happening.

 

Go ahead
Stick to that story

 

I do. I will.

 

Do You know how that compares with last year???