Steelers Get Surprising Apology From ESPN's Dan Orlovsky

Plenty of national analysts wrote off the Pittsburgh Steelers before the season. One of them is now admitting he got it wrong. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky handed out his midseason awards this week, and the very first team on his apology list was Pittsburgh. The former NFL quarterback said he expected the Steelers to be a forgettable team in 2026, and he went out of his way to give credit to Head Coach Mike McCarthy for proving him wrong.

Orlovsky made the admission on Move the Sticks, where he gave out an "I Owe You an Apology" award. He started with the team he says he underestimated the most.

"My first one will be Pittsburgh. I was so, 'Nah, you'll be fine, Pittsburgh. I just think you'll be a good football team. 10-7, 9-8-ish. You don't actually matter,'" Orlovsky said.

The Steelers have made that prediction look bad. They are 6-2, in first place in the AFC North and riding a four-game winning streak heading into Sunday night's showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Steelers Offense Earns Credit From A Former Critic

Orlovsky did not just apologize to the team. He extended it to McCarthy, who took over after Mike Tomlin stepped away following last season. McCarthy's hire was met with plenty of skepticism, and Orlovsky said the offense has impressed him the most.

"And it's a little bit of an apology to Mike McCarthy as well. I like a lot of the things that they do on offense. I think they're simplistic in many ways, but creative to a defense. I think that they can play and dictate offensively to a team because they can run the ball," Orlovsky said.

That running game is the biggest reason for the turnaround. Jaylen Warren leads all qualified players in yards per carry, and the Steelers have leaned on him and Rico Dowdle behind an offensive line that has played together for several weeks. SteelerNation covered how Warren earned a midseason honor from PFF, and Warren said this week that he has been surprised by how far ahead McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers are schematically.

Orlovsky also pointed to the size of the Steelers' skill players, which creates matchup problems, as well as Rodgers' clean, efficient play and a defense he said is playing very well. His overall verdict was that Pittsburgh now matters in the AFC picture. He did add one caveat. He still does not believe the Steelers are on the same level as the Buffalo Bills, but he said they are better than he expected.

Rodgers has been a big part of that. The 42-year-old quarterback threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns in the Week 3 win over Cincinnati, and he is one win away from tying Drew Brees for fourth on the NFL's all-time wins list, as SteelerNation noted in a look at that milestone. Rodgers has said this will be his final season, and his reunion with McCarthy, his longtime coach in Green Bay, has worked better than many expected. The two won a Super Bowl together with the Green Bay Packers, and they have brought that familiarity to Pittsburgh.

That has been a common theme for the Steelers this season. They were picked by many to finish somewhere in the middle of the AFC, and Orlovsky's preseason guess of 9-8 or 10-7 was not out of line with a lot of national predictions. They are now on pace to blow past that.

The defense has held up its end, too. Pittsburgh entered the bye with eight sacks in a 27-6 win over the Cleveland Browns, and the unit has been the driving force behind the winning streak. Orlovsky noted that the defense is playing very well, and that balance is a big reason he now believes the Steelers belong in the conversation.

There are still doubters. CBS Sports called the Steelers pretenders despite their 6-2 start, and a survey of NFL executives by ESPN leaned toward the Bengals to win the division. Sunday night gives the Steelers a chance to change more minds. A season sweep of Cincinnati would give them sole possession of first place, and it might lead to a few more apologies before the season is over.

This story was produced with the help of AI and reviewed by SteelerNation editors.

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