Heading into the 2026 season, the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers both have very similar aspirations, but they are in very different positions. Cincy missed out on the playoffs for the third straight year last season, after yet another year of poor defense, and injury to Joe Burrow.
Whereas Pittsburgh managed to get into the postseason last year, only to fall well short against the Ravens on Wildcard Weekend. The Steelers head into the new season with a lot of uncertainty, as they have their first new head coach since 2007, as Mike McCarthy takes over from Mike Tomlin.
Many Bengals fans called for Mike Brown to make a head coach change, too, but the Bengals stuck with Zac Taylor and decided instead to invest heavily in the defense. They signed Dexter Lawrence, Bryan Cook, Boye Mafe and more to boost the roster.
Bengals and Steelers both named as AFC sleepers
Heading into the season, there has been a lot of hype around the Bengals and the possibility of getting back to the Super Bowl with Joe Burrow under center. This was reflected by SI.com writer Matt Verderame, in his list of sleepers for the upcoming season.
When mentioning the Bengals, Verderame said: "If the defense can gel with its infusion of talent and Burrow can maintain an upright posture, the Bengals are a threat to win the AFC North and more."
He also named the Steelers as sleepers heading into the year, suggesting that if Aaron Rodgers can play well after they re-signed him, there's no reason why the Steelers can't make a deep playoff run.
"The Steelers’ ceiling is completely predicated on whether Aaron Rodgers can turn back time for a few months"Matt Verderame, SI.com
One is a sleeper, one is a fraud
Verderame's prediction of the Steelers being a sleeper doesn't make sense considering his logic. He claims that if Rodgers can play like the Rodgers of old in Green Bay, then Pittsburgh has a chance. But, he's not the Rodgers of old...he is old.
Last year, the Steelers QB managed to pass for 3,322 yards, for 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. That gave him an average QB-rating of 44.4, which was 23rd in the NFL. That's certainly not the Rodgers of old.
ESPN writer Bill Barnwell recently named the Steelers' re-signing Rodgers as their worst offseason move. He wrote: "At 42, the chances are far more likely that Rodgers is worse in 2026 than of any sort of dramatic improvement. It would be one thing if the Steelers were waiting on peak Rodgers to return, but the entire organization was left on hold as a below-average starter spent months deciding whether he wanted to continue playing."
If Verderame said that the Steelers' sleeper potential was based on Rodgers, then there's not exactly much potential. He was right about the Bengals being a sleeper Super Bowl candidate with Joe Burrow and a revamped defence, but the Steelers with a 42-year-old Rodgers...It's highly unlikely.
Add us as a preferred source on Google