Steelers' Latest Mistakes Will Likely Lead To Uncomfortable "Growing Pains" To Begin 2026 Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally about ready to kick off this new era as Head Coach Mike McCarthy will work his first-ever regular season NFL game as a member of this organization. There is a lot of change expected to be showcased in the Week 1 game, but for a team that has yet to win a playoff game in nearly a decade, change is needed. There are still a couple weeks of practice left to work out all the kinks, but it's time to put up or shut up for everyone on the team. 

The season may not start off as smoothly as hoped, however. While making an appearance on Deebo & Joe, former linebacker James Harrison gave a more pessimistic outlook to the first month of the 2026 campaign.

"I know this right here: with no offer [to Joey Porter Jr.] and releasing Elandon Roberts is not what I thought would be conducive to us having a successful season, or at least giving us a better chance to have one," Harrison said. "Add that on top of we ain't even had an offensive line that done played two games together. They ain't set nothing together to where they can go ahead and get used to each other... I think we're going to be going through some growing pains these first four weeks."

Whenever there are substantial changes made throughout the organization, growing pains are usually expected, as is the case here. However, many people believe that the Steelers have made numerous questionable decisions throughout 2026, including current players. A lot of these issues could easily lead to a somewhat sluggish start to the season despite the supposed weak competition ahead. 

All throughout the show, Harrison and his co-host Joe Haden were going off on Pittsburgh for not even sending an offer to star cornerback Joey Porter Jr., let alone paying him what he deserves. Even if they come to terms on a big extension in the next week or so, Porter still missed all of training camp and preseason with an alleged back injury. It's going to take time for him to get conditioned again, which could hurt his play in Week 1. 

There were questions about why the Steelers allowed Elandon Roberts to walk away in free agency after his first stint with the team, and those same questions are coming back since he did not make the 53-man roster in 2026. At the end of the day, he is a dynamic, explosive player when running north to south, and he could have been a key piece to the run defense with his great physicality and his nose for the open gaps.

Steelers' Big Plan With Offensive Line Likely Won't Show Immediate Results

The offensive line is really tricky, although this was anticipated. The Steelers completely flipped the entire line so that they can eventually work Max Iheanachor in at right tackle whenever he is ready to go. That has caused a lot of problems, as everyone is trying to get used to these new positions. Those growing pains were evident in the preseason, and it's hard to imagine that they get completely fixed by Week 1.

The offensive tackles have looked the worst with the role reversals. Star tackle Troy Fautanu admitted that he has been having issues while playing on the blind side, while Dylan Cook has not looked great on the right side. These are the two positions that need to fix their problems the most. If Aaron Rodgers does not have a clean pocket constantly, the season could end up being a disaster as opposed to just "growing pains."

What do you think about Harrison saying that the Steelers will go through these growing pains in the first four weeks of the 2026 season? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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