The Pittsburgh Steelers spent Week 3 feeling like the offensive line had finally stopped leaking answers. Four days later, Cleveland turned the same group into a stress test. Five sacks, repeated pressure and a passing game that never looked completely comfortable made Thursday night ugly enough that one young starter received his first real reminder of how quickly the NFL starts hunting whatever showed up on tape.
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Steelers offensive tackle Max Iheanachor makes his NFL debut against the Falcons on September 13, 2026.
Insider Christopher Carter thought Max Iheanachor had a “terrible” second NFL start during Pittsburgh's 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns. The first-round rookie was charged with six pressures and two sacks, the most pressures allowed by any Steelers blocker in a game this season. That came only four days after Iheanachor's encouraging starting debut against Cincinnati.
The swing is almost comically violent. Iheanachor went from helping stabilize Pittsburgh's revamped right side in his first start to becoming one of the most obvious pressure points in the protection. His first true road test arrived on a short week in a divisional environment, and Cleveland made sure the rookie did not receive much time to ease into it.
During a recent breakdown, Carter made his evaluation clear while also supplying some important context.
“Terrible… I’ll add this caveat that, like, he was a rookie on a short week for his second start in the NFL. So, like, I’m going to give him a lot of grace, but, like, if I’m evaluating him as just an NFL starting tackle, I mean, he gave up six pressures, two sacks… I honestly think, though, like, what’s funny is the Steelers' offensive line looks like they’re figuring out how to put their run blocking together, but this team just looks like it struggles in general to take on blitzes and help Aaron Rodgers feel comfortable… Max Iheanachor, I thought, had a bad game… Objectively, it wasn’t a good game for him,” Carter said.
The six pressures deserve attention without turning the entire loss into an Iheanachor trial. Cleveland consistently brought five-man pressure, challenged Pittsburgh's receivers with man coverage and forced the protection to sort through blitz looks it never handled comfortably. The Browns finished with five sacks and 10 quarterback hits, while multiple Steelers blockers surrendered pressure.
Aaron Rodgers felt the consequences. Longer-developing opportunities became much harder to access when the pocket began shrinking early, and Cleveland could stay aggressive because Pittsburgh struggled to consistently punish press coverage. One rookie tackle losing individual reps was part of the problem. The protection operating like five separate emergency departments was another.
That distinction should matter when Pittsburgh evaluates Iheanachor this week.
He is 22 years old, entered the league with limited football experience compared with many first-round tackles and lost valuable training-camp time to a neck and shoulder injury. Pittsburgh selected him 21st overall knowing development would be involved. His college résumé included only three seasons at Arizona State, although he surrendered just three sacks across 1,159 career pass-blocking snaps.
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Pittsburgh Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers is sacked by Maliek Collins at Huntington Bank Field in 2026.
Cleveland provided the part of development nobody can simulate in a walkthrough. NFL defensive staffs get paid to identify weaknesses, build pressure packages around them and keep attacking until the offense proves it has an answer. Iheanachor's first start gave Pittsburgh confidence. His second gave the rest of the league film.
That is where the response becomes more interesting than the failure.
Carter also noted that Pittsburgh's run blocking appears to be improving, and Iheanachor's season numbers support the idea that his game has not fallen apart across the board. Pro Football Focus currently grades him significantly better as a run blocker than a pass protector through 137 offensive snaps. He has allowed eight total pressures on the season, meaning six came in Cleveland alone.
That is a bad night. It is also an extremely concentrated one.
Pittsburgh would be making a mistake if it treated Thursday as evidence that Iheanachor suddenly is not ready to start. The Steelers drafted a first-round tackle to become better by surviving NFL problems, not by being protected from them the first time an opponent embarrasses him. If Cleveland found something worth attacking, the useful question is how quickly Iheanachor removes it from next week's scouting report.
Mike McCarthy had already decided Iheanachor was ready before the Cincinnati game, saying it was time to give the rookie his opportunity after missed summer repetitions delayed his push for the job. One ugly Thursday should not reverse that evaluation. It should sharpen it.
Steelers Need Iheanachor To Answer The Counterpunch
The rookie stage becomes much more revealing once opponents have enough NFL film to stop guessing. Iheanachor is no longer merely a talented first-rounder with interesting traits. Cleveland just supplied every future opponent with a full evening of examples showing how Pittsburgh's young right tackle can be stressed. Now he gets to respond.
That could mean cleaner technique, better recognition of pressure looks or simply trusting his tools instead of letting one bad rep infect the next. Pittsburgh also needs the rest of its protection to improve around him because Carter's broader criticism is correct: five sacks do not happen because one tackle had a rough night.
The encouraging part is that Iheanachor has already shown the physical ability to belong. Cincinnati provided that evidence. Cleveland supplied the correction sheet.
Welcome to offensive line development in the NFL. The quiz apparently comes four days after the lesson.
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