Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy are back together in Pittsburgh, and that familiar pairing is about to walk into Tampa Bay with plenty of history behind it.
For the Buccaneers, this is not some brand-new coaching matchup. Tampa Bay has already seen seven games against teams coached by McCarthy, and the ledger is nearly split.
McCarthy has taken four of those meetings, including the 2023 wild-card round against the Buccaneers with the Dallas Cowboys. Tampa Bay has won three, with two of those victories coming during McCarthy’s Dallas run from 2020-2024.
Now McCarthy is running his third flagship franchise. Hired by Pittsburgh in late January to replace Mike Tomlin, who resigned after 19 seasons, he’ll be on the sideline for his sixth game with the Steelers when they face the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay.
The quarterback is the other half of the story. Rodgers and McCarthy spent 12 seasons together in Green Bay, and after six years apart, they’ve reunited in Pittsburgh.
Rodgers is 3-4 lifetime against Tampa Bay, and one of those losses came in the NFC Title Game more than five years ago. The Buccaneers went on to win the Super Bowl that season.
Rodgers said over the summer that his 22nd pro season will be his last, which puts a sharper edge on this year for Pittsburgh. If he’s going to make another run at the Super Bowl, this is the window. How far the Steelers go will depend heavily on him and the coach who knows him best.
The Steelers’ offensive coordinator job has been anything but stable, with three different men handling it already this decade. Brian Angelichio holds the title now, but McCarthy made it clear in his introductory press conference that he’ll be the one calling the plays.
The personnel around Rodgers has changed too, and more changes are coming in 2026. The Steelers have moved on from Kenneth Gainwell, their 2025 MVP, who signed with the Buccaneers in March. Rico Dowdle is set to replace him after spending last season with the Carolina Panthers and the first five years of his career with McCarthy in Dallas.
At receiver, Pittsburgh lost Calvin Austin III to the New York Giants but added Michael Pittman Jr., who caught 80 passes for 784 yards and seven touchdowns with the Indianapolis Colts last season.
The Steelers also kept a major piece in place by extending tight end Darnell Washington on a four-year, $42 million deal.
Defensively, Pittsburgh now has Patrick Graham in charge as coordinator. The name that still matters most, though, is TJ Watt. He’s entering Year 11, and if he’s no longer playing at an elite level, that could open the door for Tampa Bay to take advantage.
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Bucs Draft Miss Is Heading Into A Defining Camp Battle
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For Braswell, the next few weeks are about more than just showing flashes in camp or carrying that work into preseason games. He needs to prove he still fits into Tampa Bays pass-rush plans at a time when the depth chart is crowded and every practice rep matters, making this one of the more defining stretches of his young Bucs career. [Read more 🡒]