The Pomp And Joe Show
Art Rooney II thinks the Steelers have been in contention over the years
26 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: Why does Art Rooney II believe the Steelers are always in contention?
You know, it's been a winning era. We're always in contention. So I think when you start with that, you have the opportunity to take the next step. You know, I can't explain kind of the more recent history there. It's hard to explain given the overall track record. Frustrating for all of us, mostly for Mike.
But all in all, you know, I'll take being in contention every year and having a shot at it.
You're not in contention every year and you don't have a shot at it. That's Art Rooney's major mistake. I've gone too light here today, Bob. I'm starting to get swayed over to the McCarthy thing. I'm being brainwashed. So I'm going to sway back to my actual opinion. You're not in contention, Art Rooney. That's delusional.
Just getting in, being one of the 40% of teams that get in, is not by definition in contention. In fact, you're closer to the Browns and the Giants of the world if you get blown out in the wildcard round than you are to the teams you saw yesterday. Oh, and the Browns and Giants have won a playoff game more recently than you.
The Raiders have come closer to winning a playoff game more recently than you. You haven't come close, come close to winning a playoff game in nine years. And what you did here, because you're under the delusion that you're close, that you're in contention, is just further that by hiring a guy who is basically Mike Tomlin. Look at the resume. One playoff win in the last seven years.
Pretty good regular seasons. You could fool yourself into thinking you're in contention if you were the Dallas Cowboys or late-stage Packers, I guess.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Mike McCarthy's hiring for the Steelers?
And you probably were with Aaron Rodgers in his prime. But this is not in contention. And I'll just repeat again, Bob. A stat that's so unbelievable that even though we all looked it up again at the top of the show, I had to go back and check it when I said it to Donnie Football again. The New England Patriots have won more playoff games in the last or as many.
The New England Patriots have won as many playoff games in the last three weeks as the Steelers have in the last 15 years. Yeah, that's pretty stunning. They fired Bill Belichick.
They moved out Bill Belichick, who has six Super Bowl titles, and they went through different coaches and different quarterbacks, and they sunk to the bottom of the league, and good for them because now they have Drake May. They weren't under any illusion or delusion. They're not in this for nine and eight.
They're in it to have the most Super Bowl wins in the history of the sport, which if they beat Seattle, they'll have. The Steelers just stay the same, and the Mike McCarthy hiring fits that theme. Stay the same because it ain't that bad. We're in contention. I'm sorry, Bob. I had to say that.
No, you've been saying that before, and I get it. But I also know that regardless who's the head coach, you've got to figure out the quarterback situation. It still comes down to that.
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Chapter 3: How does the quarterback situation affect the Steelers' contention status?
You're in contention if you have a legit quarterback opportunity. And Rodgers, a lot of people thought at that time last year going into the postseason, maybe he could. That's why he was brought here. So did I. I thought in that game they could figure it out. But then we saw more what a good pass rush can do to him, which is why I don't want to go back in that direction again this year.
They've got to figure out the quarterback. To be a legitimate contender, those who have those quarterbacks are normally at the top of the list. If you're not, you're going to be kind of just circling the same old wagon over and over.
Well, that's the problem. And if you look across the AFC, you still see. Josh Allen, Drake May, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, a rejuvenated Trevor Lawrence, Bo Nix, Justin Herbert, and Patrick Mahomes. And in the world we live in where everybody's attention span is the size of a beer nut, the idea now is that Patrick Mahomes is done? Really? Because he had an injury? No, he's not done.
Chapter 4: What recent playoff performance statistics reflect on the Steelers?
Patrick Mahomes is going to be back. You best believe that. How old is he? How old is he? He's got to be near 30. He's 30. He's 30. He's going to be back. And yet Art sits there and tells Bob Labriola yesterday that Mike McCarthy is, quote, very comfortable with our quarterback room. The quarterback room has Mason Howard. Well, that's it. It was a slip there, Bob.
Mason Howard and Will Rudolph in it. Who would be comfortable with that? So I still say, can somebody please wake up, Art? Just bang on the door. You know how on New Year's limits people go running in the streets banging on pots and pans? Yes. Somebody needs to do that. And this is not it, Art. It's not it. I'm going to say it again.
The New England Patriots who are about to pass you maybe in all-time Super Bowl wins are Just won as many playoff games in three weeks as your franchise has won in 15 years. That's the most incredible stat I've ever heard.
Chapter 5: How does the Steelers' offensive strategy need to change?
Anyway, Bob, can we listen to some reaction from around the football world on Mike McCarthy? Because there are some people who like the hype. Yeah, a lot of positives, a lot of negatives. Let's hear some limits. Well, I'm sure a lot of the negatives will come down from some of the shows going on in the moment right now.
But over the weekend, from the people that talked, a lot of positivity, including Bill Cowher on CBS.
Well, I know that Art Rooney, Omar, did that, and also Dan Jr. sat there, and they did a very diligent look at what was out there. They did a lot of interviews, sat back, but also looked at their football team, and I really like this hire for this reason. Number one, he's an offensive-minded guy, and Mike McCarthy, everywhere he's been,
He grew up under Marty Schottenheimer, so he understands the value of running the football. He coached Joe Montana. He coached Brett Favre. He coached Aaron Rodgers. He coached Dak Prescott. Everywhere he's been, he's uplifted the offense.
And if you look at the Pittsburgh Steelers right now, if there's been inconsistencies in the last recent years, it's been the instability of having a reliable offense. They've got defensive guys that can sack the quarterback. They can create turnovers. So I like where they're at. He also walks in that room with credibility. So I like what they did. He'll put together a good staff right here.
Oh, yeah, he's from Pittsburgh, too. That doesn't make it bad.
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Chapter 6: What does Art Rooney II's perspective reveal about the team's future?
He knows the tradition. He knows what the expectation is. He knows what that fan base is all about. He's a yinzer. I think it's a very good hire for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bob? I like, as I said, the stuff about the offense I agree with. I think he has the ability, because he's shown it, that he can get a team to produce points. This team has not produced enough points offensively. But he's also had, as Bill described there, a lot of guys who are bigger names on his quarterback rosters. So they don't have that here.
They're going to have to figure out who that is, how they get whoever it is up to that level if they can, and make decisions accordingly before you can ever have the kind of true offense that is going to be considered a Super Bowl contending offense. So that's the mission. But, you know, listen, Mike McCarthy's a guy who has been there, done that.
He hasn't won enough for me in the postseason, just like Mike Tomlin. But he has the ability, and it's different than what we've seen in the past three hires dating back to Noel. It's an offensive mind, which is the Steelers saying, we have lagged behind on offensive strategies over the last several years.
Oh, no, it's not. Oh, no, it's not. Because I was just going to ask you guys, we all agree that the Steelers have been deficient offensively and it needs to get better, right? Then how come Art said he was willing to run it back with Mike? And if he was willing to run it back with Mike, you better believe Artie would have been part of that package too. So we can sit here and say that.
And Garth thinks his offense was deficient. He may think that, but he would be wrong. I think it's about this offense taking steps forward. So do I. And becoming a team that can average 28 to 30 points a game. That's what it takes in today's NFL. Again, you saw it yesterday.
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Chapter 7: How do other AFC quarterbacks impact the Steelers' competitiveness?
Chris Shula's defense gave up a lot. Okay, fine. But their offense took care of that because they ā or vice versa, what I was saying. Kubiak. Kubiak's team, their defense got shredded. Both defensive coordinators. They gave up big plays at big times, but their offenses were good enough ā to overcome that.
So you have to have an offense that can come back from things that don't go your way defensively. And in the Steelers' case over the last couple of years, if they fall behind and it's almost impossible for them to come back and win games, you have to have that. Even if your defense is okay, you can overcome it. I agree.
I just don't agree that the Steelers think they're deficient. Certainly maybe Omar, but not Art. Let's play that quote again at the top. This is coming from a guy...
who is the head of an organization that has, and I say this a million times because I feel like it needs to be repeated that often in order to crack the delusion, the veneer around this franchise for some, including the guy who runs it. They haven't come close to winning a playoff game in nine years. The closest they came, I guess, was they were down a touchdown to the Bills.
with seven minutes left in Buffalo with Mason Rudolph, and then the Bills immediately went down the field without even a third down and scored a touchdown, then tacked on a field goal and wound up winning by two touchdowns?
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Chapter 8: What are the potential outcomes for the Steelers' quarterback situation?
Is that a close game to you? Not to me. So nine years without ever even really threatening to win a playoff game. And this is how the owner of the team, the team president anyway, views it.
You know, it's been a winning era. We're always in contention. So I think when you start with that, you have the opportunity to take the next step. You know, I can't explain kind of the more recent history there. It's hard to explain given... The overall track record, frustrating for all of us, mostly for Mike.
But all in all, you know, I'll take being in contention every year and having a shot at it.
Again, you're not in contention just because you make the playoffs. That's a fallacy, I think.
You're in contention if you have an offense that could deliver when you need it to deliver. That's simply put. I mean, they only scored six points in their playoff loss most recently to Houston.
Yeah.
You knew that you might be in a game if you can score some points because their offense had its challenges as well, and their defense scored 14 out of the 30 points.
But it's also worth noting that there were games where they put up 42 and 38 points, but their defense set an all-time record in the NFL by giving up 40 points in three straight playoff games.
But generally speaking, I think we all agree that the offense ā
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