The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off an AFC North division title and a playoff berth. There were many ups and downs throughout the 2025 season, but the Black and Gold pulled through to get back to the playoffs. Though the result has been the same for nearly a decade (no playoff win), the Steelers are committed to winning. They have decided not to rebuild, but retool their roster with various free agent additions at positions of need and through 10 recent draft picks. With new head coach Mike McCarthy at the helm and his staff taking over, Pittsburgh is primed to maintain its winning ways.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy coaches up his team during the voluntary veteran minicamp in 2026.
Many areas needed improvement after 2025, and the Steelers' front office was keen to address them. Pittsburgh lacked quality receivers around its star DK Metcalf and made aggressive moves to add more weapons. Another area was an issue of depth in the secondary. The team signed free agent cornerback Jamel Dean to remedy that. With all of the moves leading up to the season and a new scheme in place, the team's record should reflect that. However, there are still a ton of "what-ifs" within the team.
The defense was one of the most mediocre parts of the 2025 squad. It relied on creating turnovers, rather than keeping things in front of them. With a new defensive coordinator and scheme, the Steelers will need their defense to come through. ESPN's Brooke Pryor recently wrote that the defense could make or break the Steelers' chances of becoming repeat division champions.
"Steelers can win the division if ...the defense gets consistent stops from the start. The NFL's highest-paid defense struggled to get stops in the first half of the season, allowing opponents to score an average of 24.4 points per game, while also allowing a league-worst 278.3 passing yards per game. Those numbers improved a bit by the end of the season as the Steelers finished 17th in scoring defense (23.2 points per game) and 29th in passing yards per game (244.9)," Pryor wrote.
The Steelers ranked near the bottom in most defensive statistics in 2025. The unit was consistently allowing tons of yards to opponents and had major issues stopping the pass.
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Steelers linebacker TJ Watt is firing up the Pittsburgh defense before their Week 13 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
As mentioned before, the front office was not shy in adding more pieces to the group. Pryor continued and explained some of the pieces that the team added to help fix its issues against the pass.
"The Steelers worked to overhaul their secondary in the offseason, adding cornerback Jamel Dean, safety Jaquan Brisker, and rookie cornerback Daylen Everette. They should also get a boost from the return of safety DeShon Elliott. With those additions, the Steelers can better utilize Jalen Ramsey, who struggled when he was shifted to safety amid numerous late-season injuries," Pryor wrote.
Pittsburgh made sure it revitalized its secondary and will allow Ramsey to play more freely. The addition of Dean will give rising star Joey Porter Jr. a lockdown corner on the other side of him, as the defense will look to improve on its putrid numbers from last season.
Steelers Will Need All Of Their Defensive Players To Step Up
Not only did the secondary have its woes, but other players on defense struggled mightily. The team's cornerstone, TJ Watt, had his lowest number of sacks since his rookie season, and the inside linebacker group also struggled to make plays. The group as a whole has to play up to what they're capable of, and that didn't happen in 2025. However, to be the contender they hope to be, the Steelers need everyone to be up to the challenge.
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Steelers linebacker TJ Watt is going through drills during day one of minicamp on June 2, 2026.
The Steelers have found most of their success with a stout defense. The team will have to go back to its roots to find success, and they've done that through new coaching and additions to the unit. This will dictate the Black and Gold's success in 2026.
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