Steelers Are Stuck With Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers, Whether They Like It or Not

You know we have officially gotten through the first month of the NFL season when teams are executing notable trades, fan bases are reviewing mock drafts and rumors are swirling about coaches on the hot seat.

It only takes a few games for teams to figure out which trajectory they’re on.

As for the Steelers, they seem to be on the same path they’ve been on for the past decade, even with a new coach for the first time since 2007. Mike McCarthy has the Steelers looking about as average as Mike Tomlin did in his final years in Pittsburgh.

Being .500 isn’t the worst place, but the Steelers (2–2) seem tired of being in the middle after Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy got into a heated exchange last week in Cleveland. Let’s start with the Steelers’ messy situation for this week’s NFL Fact or Fiction.

Mike McCarthy could have started rebuild without Aaron Rodgers

I wanted to write that McCarthy should bench Rodgers if he belittles him again, as he did in the loss against the Browns. Then I remembered that McCarthy reacted by calling his quarterback an a-hole, and that’s worse than demanding a play to be called.

Nevertheless, McCarthy has allowed Rodgers to lose his cool way too many times, going back to their days with the Packers. It’s probably more tiring now for McCarthy to be chewed out by the 42-year-old Rodgers, knowing he’s no longer as good as he was in his prime.

While Rodgers can’t turn back the clock, the Steelers’ issue—depending on how you look at it—is that Rodgers is this team’s best quarterback option and maybe their only option despite having two inexperienced quarterbacks drafted in the past two years: Will Howard and Drew Allar.

McCarthy signed off on welcoming Rodgers back to Pittsburgh, punting on hitting the reset button for a roster that has needed remaking for quite some time. McCarthy replaced Tomlin, who had been in Pittsburgh for 19 seasons and ended his stint with a six-game postseason losing streak.

This was the perfect year for the organization to start fresh and keep McCarthy from reliving his days of being yelled at by his quarterback. That was fine in 2010, but not so much in 2026.

But that was what McCarthy agreed to when he accepted the job to coach in his hometown. For now, the veteran-heavy Steelers have to move forward with this group—their average roster age is 27.09, 30th in the NFL—let it play out and accept that Rodgers will likely have more outbursts along the way. At 2–2, the Steelers aren’t in a bad spot, but they’re in the same spot they’ve been in the past several years: a mediocre team that might need a miracle to finally win another playoff game.

As for McCarthy’s bigger problem, the Steelers could soon wake up and realize this aging group isn’t good enough to win a Super Bowl. Or maybe they already have after trading cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to the Cowboys last week. Pittsburgh could finally be thinking about the future, aiming to get younger, and maybe that also includes the head coaching position. It’s hard seeing a one-and-done season for the 62-year-old McCarthy, but teams covet the next 30-something hotshot offensive play-caller.

McCarthy likely would have been better off telling the Steelers he would only accept the job if they started the rebuild this past offseason and went with a younger quarterback, which would have helped him be tied to the franchise for a few seasons to get the rebuild off the ground.

It’s too late now. Suddenly, the pressure is on McCarthy to make this group look the opposite of what it was, which is hard to do with an angry middle-aged quarterback.

Manzano’s view: Fact

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott — Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott carved up the Texans' defense on Sunday. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Joey Porter Jr. will fix all of the Cowboys’ defensive issues

Dallas’s trade for Porter already paid dividends in its 34–30 victory over the Texans. Still, the arrival of the reliable cornerback doesn’t really change how I feel about the Cowboys (2–2) being a mediocre team.

Let me put it this way: With all the notable moves Dallas has made in the past 14 months, its defense should already be in a better place than it was after trading Micah Parsons to Green Bay. The Cowboys have added Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, Rashan Gary and Porter, and used a first-round pick on Caleb Downs, yet they still struggle to generate a pass rush. The Cowboys only have four sacks this season.

Porter didn’t allow a reception while seeing limited snaps in his Cowboys debut, but C.J. Stroud (347 yards, two TDs) still connected with Nico Collins (seven catches, 118 yards, two TDs) frequently as the Texans logged 397 total yards.

Sure, if we look at this from a glass-half-full perspective, the Cowboys have addressed a handful of holes on their defense. We can’t forget that this was a poor unit even with Parsons. However, that blockbuster trade will continue to haunt this team until it finds another star edge rusher.

Porter and Williams are two of the league’s best at their positions, but they’re not sack artists. It’s difficult to win in the NFL without a consistent pass rush.

Manzano’s view: Fiction

Minnesota Vikings kicker Will Reichard — Vikings kicker Will Reichard is 12-of-12 kicking field goals this season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Undefeated Vikings will eventually fade with sluggish offense

Yes, scoring one offensive touchdown in three games isn’t ideal, but I don’t see the 4–0 Vikings fading anytime soon because this Brian Flores–led defense is good enough to keep racking up wins. The Vikings are allowing a league-best 12.8 points per game and have a league-high 16 sacks.

Obviously, Minnesota will need Kyler Murray and the offense to do more to be taken seriously as contenders. Still, no one will want to see this dominant defense down the stretch when the calendar turns to January.

The Vikings might be the 2025 Texans: a dominant defense and sluggish offense. Murray has to do more, but he also didn’t have Justin Jefferson, who missed the ugly 15–10 victory over the Dolphins with an ankle injury. Murray is still searching for his footing on a new team and missed some time due to a concussion sustained in the season opener against the Packers.

There’s a real possibility that this offense picks up the pace in the coming weeks to take pressure off the defense and their stud kicker Will Reichard, who’s 12-of-12 on field-goal attempts and 6-of-6 on extra-point kicks.

Manzano’s view: Fiction

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles — Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles is off to an 0-4 start, his first in five seasons. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

At least one head coach will be fired by Halloween

This section of Conor Orr’s “Which coaches are on the hot seat” story really stood out: “We are now four games into a 17-game season, which may feel too early to bring up the term ‘hot seat.’ But I promise you, it’s not.”

Best believe a handful of teams have already started doing their homework on potential coaching candidates who may be available at the end of the year and have taken notice of the fast starts from Browns coach Todd Monken, Giants coach John Harbaugh, Raiders coach Klint Kubiak, Bills coach Joe Brady and Ravens coach Jesse Minter, who are all 3–1.

With more teams growing impatient, I will predict that at least one head coach will be fired by Halloween. I’ll take it a step further and say that coach will be Todd Bowles, whose stint in Tampa Bay has grown stale.

Bowles, in his fifth season as the Buccaneers’ head coach, has survived the past few coaching cycles, but it’s going to be difficult for him to overcome this 0–4 start with Baker Mayfield sidelined at least a few more weeks with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. Tampa Bay has lost 11 of its past 13 games going back to last season.

Manzano’s view: Fact

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