Steelers must capitalize on massive schedule advantage

Posted by Admin July 9, 2026 NFL

On paper, you could make the case that the 2026 Pittsburgh Steelers have the best roster the franchise has had since the turn of the decade. Adding Michael Pittman and Germie Bernard to complement DK Metcalf at receiver, as well as bringing in Rico Dowdle at running back, gives the Steelers a vast overhaul of talent at their skill positions when compared to the last two seasons.

On top of their offensive additions, Pittsburgh overloaded their secondary with talent, re-signing Asante Samuel Jr. and signing both Jamel Dean and Jaquan Brisker. It’s not just a talented roster led by new head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham that could see the Steelers build off their 10-7 2025 season that featured a division title, it is their schedule that is doing them a lot of favors.

Per FTN Fantasy’s strength of schedule measurements using DVOA, the Steelers have the easiest first half schedule in the NFL, a slate that is as follows:

Week 8: vs. Cleveland Browns

Contrarily, Pittsburgh has the seventh-most difficult second half schedule, featuring both games agains the Baltimore Ravens, away games against the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars, and stand-alone home games agains the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans.

This isn’t new for Pittsburgh, though. Last season, they faced an especially back-loaded schedule. From Week 10 onward, the Steelers faced the Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens twice, and Detroit Lions. They also had an AFC North matchup against the Cleveland Browns and a home game agains the Miami Dolphins. Similarly in 2024, they faced the Washington Commanders, Ravens, Bengals twice, Eagles, and Chiefs from Week 10 onward.

For 2026, the Steelers magic number for the first eight games of the year is five. If they can carry a 5-3 record into the bye, or better at a 6-2 record, that buys them a few games to drop, especially in a brutal five-game stretch that features four stand-alone games agains the Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Texans, and Jaguars.

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