When the 2026 NFL schedule was released back in May, the Pittsburgh Steelers held a .495 opponent win percentage, ranking 14th-easiest (or 19th-hardest) in the NFL, based on 2025 opponents’ records. The 2026 season has seen a noticeable spike in early-season injuries, which has altered many teams and has also affected teams’ strength of schedule.

After the results of the first 8 weeks of the season, the strength of schedule has been updated, and the Steelers’ opponents are now at a .471 winning percentage, which is a far cry from what was perceived to be a brutal second-half schedule, where most pundits and analysts figured that the Steelers would have to come out swinging in the first half of the season and to stack some wins before going through the wringer.

In a potentially brutal stretch in Weeks 10 through 15, the Steelers face the Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens twice.

However, three of those opponents — the Eagles, Texans and Ravens have drastically fallen short of their preseason projections, whether due to injury or coaching staff changes, among other factors.

At 6-2 and currently sitting in first place in a competitive AFC North, the Steelers did what they set out to do and took care of business early.

And with a handful of players with various injuries expected to rejoin the team at some point in the near future, their path to another division title, and perhaps a playoff berth, doesn’t look nearly as daunting as it once did. As cliché as it may be, the saying ‘any given Sunday’ is true, so despite getting a potential lucky break at the expense of their opponents, it is imperative for them to focus on what they can control and take things one game at a time.