Aaron Rodgers coming to Pittsburgh was one of the stories of the season, and unsurprisingly for a site with two Steeler fans on our team it was one that got a good deal of attention here in our preseason Madden NFL 26 simulations. Now that we have seen 18 Weeks of NFL action, and the Steelers have added another division title to their collection, it’s time to look back on the year that was and the year that Madden thought would be to see how well the game did at predicting Rodgers’ time in Pittsburgh.
Was it the accuracy and winning of a Steeler or Penguins season, or did things go a bit Pirates for Madden in Pittsburgh? Turns out it was a little bit of both.
DK And ‘Muth Were the Truth
To start things off, we’ll look at one of Madden’s biggest hits when predicting the Steelers, even if it was a prediction that wasn’t exactly out on the most tenuous limb imaginable. Madden looked at the Steelers receiving room and decided that it did not look like a corps that was going to be putting multiple receivers into fantasy lineups every weekend, and was fully vindicated. As predicted, Metcalf led the way, though his 850 yards and six scores would likely still be a bit disappointing for his owners.
Elsewhere, the game said that it was tight end Pat Freirmuth who was the next best option, and that was the correct call, at least when it comes to players lining up on the line. With 486 yards on 41 grabs for four touchdowns, Freirmuth had a solid season for a tight end, though it was an obvious drop-off from previous seasons. Less impressive was WR2 Calvin Austin III and his 372 yards, which were still enough to be second in the platoon.
Kenneth Gainwell Leads The Way
While his name may not ring around Acrisure Stadium as Yinzer-pleasingly as one of Pittsburgh’s beloved tight ends, it was actually running back Kenneth Gainwell who emerged as the team’s number two receiving option. Gainwell had more receptions than anyone else on the team, save for Metcalf, with Rodgers finding him to be a reliable safety valve for four or five receptions per game and 486 yards of his own.
The running game had proven to be an important part of the Steelers’ offense in our simulations, but this level of passing dominance by the backfield was an overperformance of expectations. For all the negative things it says about the receiving room to have to rely so heavily on short dump-offs, the running back deserves credit for making himself an indispensable part of the offense and clawing his overall yardage up over the 1,000-yard mark thanks to his aerial contributions.
Rodgers And Garrett Both Underperformed Simulations
One of the most intriguing matchups coming into the season, as Rodgers joined the Steelers, was how he would deal with some of the pass rushers the division could bring to the table, most notably the Browns’ Myles Garrett. To the chagrin of Steeler fans, Garrett would use the season to plant a pretty decisive flag in his claim to being the best pass rusher in the game right now, as he spent the year setting the NFL sack record as the lone thing worth cheering for in Cleveland this season.
In our simulations, however, he was much better in the Steeler games, and so too was Rodgers. Like in real life, it was a split result for the teams, with the actual series going 1-1 and Cleveland taking two of three from the Steelers in our virtual versions. One thing that stood out, however, is that regardless of how an individual game went, both of the stars being tested got theirs, even when Garrett was seeing his defense allowing over 27 points a game.
In reality, neither man had numbers to write home about in the two-game series. For Garrett, despite getting to the quarterback more than anyone in the history of the NFL, he managed just one solo tackle and two assists in two games against Pittsburgh. You’d think that lack of pressure would translate to big days for Rodgers, but the Steelers managed just 29 points in two games, as Rodgers went 42 for 69, completing 60 percent of his passes for just 403 yards and two scores in two games. Neither man would be writing home about their showing in the rivalry games this season.
The Records In That Simulation Were Also Generous
Another place Madden swung big and hit nothing was in the records on offer for the AFC North teams. The Ravens were by far the dominant force in our ten-simulation look at the league, and in our look at Rodgers’ ability to move the Steelers offense, they were one of three teams to make the playoffs out of the North. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati battled it out to the last week of the season, with the Steelers capturing the division at 12-5 on a tie-breaker, while Baltimore also got in with 10 wins, and the Browns posted a respectable 7-10 record.
In reality, the North was among the worst divisions in football, with every team in it underperforming its record in this simulation by multiple games. The division did come down to a Week 18 decider, but fitting to the season, it was a game decided by the Steelers and Ravens having a competition for who could blow the most coverages in 8 minutes and who could miss the most consequential kicks. A Clash of Titans division it was not.
Madden Doubted The Pittsburgh Offense And It Was Right To
One thing that remained pretty consistent in our many simulations, from those aimed at the whole league to those with a strictly Steeler focus, was that the Pittsburgh offense was mediocre at best. As things shook down in the real world, this proved to be pretty accurate. In terms of points, they finished a middle-of-the-pack 15th. For yardage at 22nd overall and 25th in passing, mediocre would be generous.
