The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to take down the Green Bay Packers pretty handily on Thursday night for the team's first win of the 2026 preseason. The final score was 28-9, and the offense was on fire for Pittsburgh. Every iteration of the unit that took the field was able to move the ball down quite well, and the two young quarterbacks led all four of the team's touchdown drives. Mason Rudolph's group had a chance to put a touchdown on the board as well, but it was called back due to a hold on a cutback on a running play.
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Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike McCarthy looks at his play sheet at Acrisure Stadium in 2026.
The hold on the touchdown run was probably the most detrimental play of the night for the Steelers as it wiped a touchdown off of the board; but, there were several other frustrating instances. The special teams groups were a disaster.
They didn't allow any big plays or anything like that, but the unit was called for far too many penalties. These came on kickoff returns, a Packers field goal attempt, and punt. It was ridiculous to watch and, as a team, the Steelers had 11 penalties accepted against them for 134 yards. That is not sustainable in an NFL regular season, and it is a problem that has to be fixed immediately.
The Steelers returned to practice for the first time on Saturday, and it was reported that the practice was a lighter walkthrough. That is expected as players recover from playing in a game. Despite the fact that it was only a walkthrough, the focus of the practice was special teams, which was reported by Mike DeFabo of The Athletic.
"The Steelers spent about 25 minutes of their 55-minute walkthrough on special teams." DeFabo wrote. "And for good reason after seven flags on Thursday."
The team spent almost half of the practice on special teams, which shows just how unacceptable the penalties were. Even though it was just the preseason, head coach Mike McCarthy wanted to see his team play clean football, and the penalties were the complete opposite of that. It is also unacceptable for a team to have as many special teams penalties as the Steelers did when they were not even on the field that much in comparison to the other two units.
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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.
This is a problem that has to be fixed before it becomes worse. If things like this happen in the regular season, both McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers will not be shy about calling it out with the media after games. That could lead to more issues, so it is important to stop the problem now before it grows into something worse.
The special teams unit was not the only group that had an issue with penalties. The Steelers kept a few Green Bay drives alive due to penalties on defense, and left tackle Troy Fautanu had a disappointing showing as he was flagged for holding that wiped a touchdown off of the board and he also got hit with a false start.
Steelers Cannot Beat Themselves In 2026
The Steelers already have a ton of things stacked against them heading into the regular season. Their starting quarterback is 42 years old. The team has to play a first place schedule. Both the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens are primed to have bounce back seasons, and the AFC as a whole is loaded with talent.
Toss in getting used to the new faces on the staff and on the roster, and it becomes clear that winning a lot of football games is going to be harder than usual in 2026. This team cannot beat itself with dumb penalties, especially on special teams, or else there is no way that it can succeed.
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