The Pittsburgh Steelers made arguably the most notable coaching change of the offseason. After the longest tenured coach in American sports stepped down, the Steelers replaced Mike Tomlin with former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, which was met with as much excitement as a waiter spilling hot coffee all over your new trousers.
Considering the Steelers’ history, as well as the crop of young candidates in the head coaching pool, many thought Pittsburgh would go the route
of hiring one of those coaches and lean into a rebuild. Instead, they hired McCarthy in hopes of remaining competitive, but also finding playoff success for the first time in nearly a decade. And while there have been many detractors, there are multiple reasons to believe that the Steelers will find immediate success under McCarthy, who has the opportunity to turn those melancholy notes into beautiful music.
Intermediate passing game
One of the biggest missing components of the Steelers’ offense has been a complete lack of an intermediate passing game. Per Sumer Sports, the Steelers completed just 38.24 percent of passes 15-20 yards downfield, which ranked 31st in the NFL. From 2022-24, McCarthy’s Cowboys completed roughly 52 percent of such throws, including in 2023 and 2024 when they completed just under 56 percent of their intermediate passes in both years..
The addition of Michael Pittman will also be a massive asset in improving that portion of the passing game. Not just because the Steelers finally have a terrific WR2, but because he is one of the best receivers in the intermediate game. Per Sumer Sports, he ranked sixth in the NFL in 2025 in receptions between 10-15 yards downfield and ninth in receptions between 10-20 yards downfield. His particular skillset is perfect for what the Steelers have been missing and what McCarthy likes to do.
Middle of the field passing
The middle of the field not being utilized by the Steelers has been a problem for quite sometime. Even though Aaron Rodgers gave the Steelers their best quarterback performance since Ben Roethlisberger retired, the passing chart, more often than not, featured a very barren middle portion of the field.
Per Sumer Sports, the Steelers ranked 28th in success rate in passes over the middle of the field of 15+ yards, completing just 20 of 51 attempts. To compare, McCarthy’s Cowboys were one of the better teams in the league at attacking that portion of the field. In 2022, the Cowboys finished eighth in success rate and then 10th in 2023. They did drop down to 28th in 2024, but let’s also remember that Dak Prescott only played in eight games that season due to injury. When McCarthy had Prescott, the Cowboys consistently had one of the best passing games that consistently found success in the intermediate middle portion of the field.
It’s completely fair to have wanted, and even expected the Steelers to go with a younger head coach. And even though they didn’t, it’s hard to see the offense not improving, especially under an offensive-minded head coach. For as many games as Mike Tomlin won, it felt like the game passed him by in a lot of ways, specifically on the offensive side of the ball.
So while many – myself included – were originally let down or left shrugging their shoulders with the hire of McCarthy, there is a very good chance that the Steelers find plenty of success during his tenure. Considering he’s been a winner everywhere he’s gone, there is no reason to think he can’t win in Pittsburgh.
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