The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't have the best ending to the 2025 season. While the AFC North was won thanks to a missed field goal by Tyler Loop of the Baltimore Ravens, a Wild Card Game against the Houston Texans went very poorly. Not long after, Mike Tomlin stepped down from his post as the team's head coach. This was a bit of a shock at the time; however, change was arguably necessary because of the lack of postseason success dating back to 2017. Mike McCarthy ended up being hired to lead the locker room and had his first chance on Thursday evening.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy stands on the field and looks on as he watches the team workout during a 2026 training camp practice taking place at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
There are a lot of unknowns for the Steelers specifically because Tomlin was in charge for almost two decades. Regardless of who was going to come in to replace him, there was going to be some kind of an adjustment period. There will be certain things that fans will miss when it comes to Tomlin, but there are also going to be newfound advantages to having McCarthy running the show.
One person that really needs the new era to see some success is Art Rooney II. Since he truly started to run the franchise, success hasn't been up to par compared to what the organization has experienced in the past. The Black and Gold faithful is starting to get a bit restless, so the 2026 campaign is a very important one when it comes to winning outside of the regular season.
With the Green Bay Packers in town on Thursday for the Steelers' first exhibition contest, there were certainly some challenges early on. The issues weren't necessarily regarding play-calling or effort; the discipline that the players displayed was far from what will be accepted when the meaningful football games begin. Unforced errors riddled Pittsburgh in the first half.
Rooney joined the broadcast for a Packers possession in the second quarter and the penalties had already started to pile up for the Steelers. When one occurred with the owner in the broadcast booth, he wasn't afraid to make a statement about what he disliked to that point while watching. McCarthy's collective was seeing the yellow flag way too much.
"Too many penalties so far," Rooney said. That's one thing we gotta clean up."
Almost immediately after Rooney's comments, the Steelers were flagged once again. He refused to be shy and spoke up again in relation to mistakes being made. He let the national audience known, as the game was on NFL Network in most areas.
"Too many penalties. Can't be making mistakes like that," Rooney mentioned.
McCarthy can't be happy with what happened in the first half of the game. Despite it just being the preseason, consistently being flagged is never something that is encouraging. And, when Rooney speaks up about it after just a quarter and a half of football, that means something.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers Team President Art Rooney II roams the sidelines as the team warms up and gets ready to compete in a 2022 preseason matchup at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
In the first seven minutes of the game alone, the Steelers saw five penalty flags thrown. Two were on the same play during a kickoff return, but, overall. four ended up being accepted by Green Bay in the box score. Special teams was the main culprit.
Anyone miss Danny Smith yet? Danny Crossman, get control of your special teams unit. 5 flags thrown on the group (2 on the kick return) 7 minutes into the game.
— Parker Abate (@SNParker_) August 13, 2026
It's unacceptable to give opposing teams extra yards. Football is a game of inches and every play — and penalty — matters. There will need to be adjustments made moving forward, even if the infractions that led to Rooney's frustration took place in the first half of a preseason game.
Steelers' McCarthy Has To Hold Everyone Accountable
Everything starts with a head coach. McCarthy has had offseason activities and training camp practices to hone in on the details with his group. He has even been quoted saying that penalties have been an issue. Talent varies, but the one thing that can be focused on, regardless of where anyone is on the depth chart, is playing clean football. Rooney didn't think that the Steelers did that on Thursday evening.
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