The Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers won the AFC North last season. Skip Bayless thinks they won’t do it again in 2026.
Skip Bayless shared his take on Thursday on “The Arena: Gridiron.”
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“This is the easiest pick of the day for me,” Skip Bayless said.
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“They stumbled into the back door of the playoffs thanks to a missed 40-yard field goal. Now you’re telling me they’re just going to be back in the playoffs in that division? The Bengals are going to be way better. The Ravens are going to be way, way better.”
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Pittsburgh went 10-7 last season and won the AFC North for the first time in five years. The Steelers made the playoffs after an opponent missed a late field goal. Skip Bayless pointed to that as proof that Pittsburgh got lucky.
Meanwhile, coach Mike Tomlin is gone after 19 seasons. Mike McCarthy now runs the team, and he previously coached Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers and Co under a new era under Mike McCarthy

McCarthy and Rodgers won a Super Bowl together. They also reached three NFC Championship games during their 11 seasons as a duo. Now they’re back together in Pittsburgh. Aaron Rodgers is reportedly playing what could be his final NFL season.
McCarthy takes over a team that ranked in the bottom quarter of the league on both offense and defense last year. Pittsburgh tried to fix that this offseason. The team added 1,000-yard receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and 1,000-yard rusher Rico Dowdle.
Cincinnati and Baltimore both have reasons for optimism, too. The Bengals expect a healthy Joe Burrow. The Ravens have a new coach in Jesse Minter.
Edited by Aman Kashyap
