What are Reasonable Expectations for Mike McCarthy in year one with the Steelers?

After fully digesting both FA and McCarthy's first draft here, I would say a solid 10 wins is doable but I am leaning more towards 9. On the flip side, I can also see anywhere between 5 to 7 wins as well. A lot of this depends on what happens during the first half of the Steelers Schedule.


That second half of the season is tough.

 

Truth. In fact I think this classic joke sums it up nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lXuvVyrmHhc

 

This is a playoff roster!

 

LoL. That's pretty good, but true.

 

Wait my friend, that's like four different outcomes. LoL

 

I would say all of the last 3 rosters were playoff rosters

 

Let's make sure we understand what a playoff roster means; your team is in the top 44% of the league. As a bottom seed, in the old days that's a "C" grade. They hardly looked like they belonged in the post season. Steelers really need to solve their QB issue before I see their outlook improving.

OK, that's my downer for the day...

 

I would say any team that makes the playoffs is a playoff roster, but hey that's just me, especially if you have made the playoffs 3 years straight, and 5 of the last 6.

 

Can they win in the playoffs?

Hard to said yes when you are down by 21 points at least in every playoffs game

 

If you want my only prediction?! 9-8.

I am just stating my own ceiling (10-7) versus my own floor (5-12). To me, this year can go either way. Have to see more though.

 

I can't argue with that logic.

 

It's cool my friend , I was only trying to be funny.
I won't make a prediction this year. It's the 1st year in 5, or 6 I won't be betting on the over/under. I have no idea of how it will workout, but I do have hope that it will be great

 

That's damning. But I think MM is the guy to get it done:

Steelers Just Got A Tremendous Update From New Coach About Mike McCarthy's Offense
Story by Anthony G. Halkias II, Steeler Nation

The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the 2026 season in unfamiliar territory. For the first time in nearly two decades, Mike Tomlin is no longer leading the franchise, with Mike McCarthy becoming just the fourth head coach to guide Pittsburgh since 1969. McCarthy's arrival has injected plenty of optimism into the organization, but excitement alone won't satisfy Steelers fans. They'll want to see an offense capable of consistently putting points on the board while a star-studded, high-priced defense finally performs up to expectations.

The new coaching staff believes it can help Pittsburgh turn the page after years of postseason disappointment. The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season, a drought that has now stretched close to a decade. If McCarthy is going to change that, it will likely begin with revitalizing an offense that has ranked among the NFL's worst in recent years.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, building productive offenses has been one of McCarthy's greatest strengths throughout his coaching career. And based on comments via Chris Adamski, from new running backs coach Ramon Chinyoung, there is already plenty of confidence that the Steelers are returning to the offensive identity that made McCarthy's teams successful for years.

"I can definitely tell you we’re getting back to the origin," Chinyoung said of the offensive identity. "We’re getting back to the root of Coach McCarthy."
For Steeler Nation, the immediate question is simple: What exactly is the "root" of McCarthy's offense? Throughout McCarthy's tenure as an NFL head coach, one thing has remained remarkably consistent. His offenses have produced. According to Adamski's research, the 2025 season marked the seventh consecutive year in which the Steelers finished with a bottom-10 offense in the NFL, underscoring just how desperately Pittsburgh needed a change.

McCarthy's track record suggests he could provide exactly that. In 14 of his 18 seasons as an NFL head coach, or roughly 77 percent of the time, his offenses finished inside the league's top 10 in points scored, total yards, or both. That is an eye-opening statistic for a Steelers fan base that has watched the offense struggle for more than half a decade.

The encouraging part for Pittsburgh is that McCarthy was not simply overseeing those productive units. He was calling the plays for the vast majority of them. That is a major reason why his hiring has generated so much optimism throughout the organization.
Steelers fans have grown accustomed to watching an offense that has not just been below average, but one of the NFL's least productive groups year after year. Now, with Aaron Rodgers under center and weapons such as Rico Dowdle, Jaylen Warren, DK Metcalf, and Michael Pittman Jr., the expectation is not simply for the offense to improve. The hope is that it becomes one of the team's biggest strengths in 2026.​

 

Must be a lot of bottom feeders in the NFL , and even without a good Qb they are only one of 5 teams to make the playoffs 5 out of the last 6 years.