Steelers Great Jerome Bettis Makes Bold Prediction For The Upcoming 2026 Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off an AFC North division title; however, yet again, failed to make any noise in the playoffs, by losing 30-6 at home to the Houston Texans. Pittsburgh is still riding the long postseason win drought that dates back to the 2016 campaign. The path in 2026 does not get easier as the division only will get tougher. Pittsburgh, on paper, should still have a very good chance to make a run at the title, but as fans know, anything can happen in football.

Aaron Rodgers officially announced that this upcoming season will be his last, and many people are surprised he even returned for one last year. Rodgers, although being 42, still has very good football in him, and he showed it in 2025 even with an inconsistent and incompetent offense at times. 

Pittsburgh went out and improved the offense in a variety of ways, most notably at the receiver position. This past March, the team traded for Michael Pittman Jr. from the Indianapolis Colts. This provided an immediate boost to the receiving corps, but Pittsburgh was not done adding to that position.

The desperate need for added depth at the position was also addressed in the NFL Draft by selecting Germie Bernard, wideout from Alabama in the second round at 47th overall. Bernard should have an opportunity right away to make an impact and prove why he was worth the second-round pick.

All of these moves made to improve the receiving group should massively help DK Metcalf, who was held to limited production in his first year with the team due to the lack of depth at the wideout spot. 

Many people feel that Pittsburgh addressing the needs from last season boosts their chances even more than what they had last season. Legendary Steeler Jerome Bettis recently spoke about this in an interview.

"Obviously with this being Aaron's last year, I think they'll rally around that," Bettis said. "I expect them to be competitively good and fight for the division, and the playoff goes through your division. So if they can win the division, then I think they got a great shot. But this year the division's going to be tough, tough, tough to win, but if they can win it, I expect them to make a sizable dent in the playoffs"

The AFC North is consistently one of the toughest divisions in football, and it seems to always come down to the final week of the season for the title. The division features Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, who are two established and elite quarterbacks when healthy. Facing those quarterbacks each twice a year is not small task. 

Pittsburgh also has to deal with hard-nosed football, and every game seems to always come down to the very last possession no how good or bad either team is. That makes every divisional game throughout the year extremely important. It often can come down to tie breakers, and you can always count on every single game meaning something. 

Injuries often riddle seasons, but it always seems like teams in the AFC North find ways to overcome these injuries and stay competitive while making life hard on teams that are looking to run away with the division.

Steelers Are Facing An Uphill Battle To Repeat AFC North Title

The harsh reality for the Steelers is that each team in the AFC North got better in some way shape or form. However, Pittsburgh knows this is not going to be easy, and it is prepared to face the battles that come within the division. 

Pittsburgh did not get any favors with its strength of schedule with eight of the last eight weeks being against playoff teams from 2025, which means the Steelers cannot afford to have ground to make up when they enter that stretch of the season. 

Pittsburgh feels confident about the team that it has put together, but knows that it will not be gifted anything this upcoming season, but as fans all know, that is the AFC North and nothing will be easy.

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