Despite working with a new coaching staff, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been playing very similar to how they have in recent years: consistently inconsistent. There are flashes of talent from every spot on the field each game. Sometimes, the defense steps up and carries the offense and vice versa. If Pittsburgh can find a way to put everything together, this could be a legitimately scary team down the stretch. That is much easier said than done, however, and that could lead to more frustrating performances from the perspective of the fans.
Jared Wickerham / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Spencer Anderson warms up for the 2026 season opener with Zach Frazier and Max Iheanachor.
The offensive line has been a point of emphasis for the Steelers for a while now, and that may help this team finally gain consistency. In his latest Q&A chat, Gerry Dulac spoke about how the offense has been growing along with one player.
"The offensive line gets better every game, and they were against the Colts," Dulac said. "Part of that is the RT. Max [Iheanachor] gets better every game."
After the offensive line played miserably in the first two weeks, the Steelers made big changes to the offensive line, with one of them being rookie right tackle Max Iheanachor getting the starting nod. He has not been amazing yet, but as Dulac noted, he is consistently growing. As the high-ceiling project keeps trending up, the offense as a whole becomes significantly better, which should hopefully lead to more consistency.
Iheanachor has been a big reason why Jaylen Warren has exploded in recent weeks. Now that he and Brock Hoffman are guarding the right side, the former undrafted running back is no longer getting hit behind the line of scrimmage constantly. All he needs is a small gap, and he can blow it wide open for a big play, like he did twice in Week 5, where he had two touchdown plays that add up to 130 yards total.
Barry Reeger / Imagn Images
Jaylen Warren jumps into the end zone after scoring a 50-yard touchdown against the Colts.
The other obvious key is that quarterback Aaron Rodgers has more time in the pocket to be himself. Week 4 was a mess, but that seemed to be more self-inflicted, as his internal clock appeared to be off. In Weeks 3 and 5, he was able to sit in the pocket and dice up the opposing defenses for the most part. The most recent contest was even more impressive, as he played well despite losing half of his receivers due to injury.
Without Iheanachor playing as well as he has, who knows if any of this would be possible? He is a big reason why the offense went from scoring eight points per game in the first two weeks to reaching 29 points per game since then. The rookie is still far away from his ceiling, as the Steelers believe he can be a truly elite right tackle someday. So far, their projections don't appear to be too far off with how he has given the offense a much-needed boost.
Steelers Still Need Rodgers And Iheanachor To Fix One Issue
The Steelers are 3-0 at home, but 0-2 on the road. In those road games, communication has been a problem on both sides of the ball. As mentioned before, Rodgers was struggling in the pocket on the road in Week 4. He threw the ball away when he had time, and he held onto the ball for too long when he didn't have time.
The communication likely had an impact on that, with the road crowd interfering with this extremely young offensive line and its ability to hear what's going on. That's something that will get improved with time, and the Steelers will get that time. Four of their next five games will be away from Acrisure Stadium, including a contest in Paris, France. This stretch will tell us how good Iheanachor and this offensive line truly is.
What do you think about Iheanachor being the big piece to the offense becoming a true force in recent weeks? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
#SteelerNation