Just minutes after the Pittsburgh Steelers released their full 2026 regular-season schedule, they quietly dropped their preseason schedule in a post on X... and nobody seemed to care.
It only makes sense that the regular-season schedule draws the most buzz. After all, these are the games that matter at the end of the day—the 17 contests that will determine whether the Steelers enter the playoffs and earn a chance to avoid a ten-year drought without a playoff win or if they're sent packing their bags until next year.
But the preseason acts as an all-important tune-up for regular-season action.
This year, the Steelers will be going up against two battle-tested playoff heavyweights in their three-game preseason schedule.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' full 2026 preseason schedule
WEEK | HOME | AWAY | DATE | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Steelers | Packers | Aug. 13 | 7 pm ET |
2 | Steelers | Jets | Aug. 21 | 7 pm ET |
3 | Bills | Steelers | Aug. 27 | 7 pm ET |
The Steelers' preseason opener will come on their own turf at Acrisure Stadium against the Green Bay Packers—Mike McCarthy's former team. This will be a Thursday night game on August 13, with kickoff at 7:00 pm Eastern Time. The Packers have made the playoffs in three straight years and have cracked the postseason in five of their last six seasons.
While Green Bay is a quality opponent with good coaching and a well-rounded roster, don't expect many starters from either team to see the field in this contest. The first preseason game on the schedule typically features mostly backups and reserves seeing extended action.
In Week 2 of the preseason, the Steelers will stay in Pittsburgh to host the New York Jets. While the Jets aren't expected to be a good team this year, this could be an intriguing matchup because of the loaded rookie draft classes for both teams.
In the second preseason game, we can expect to see Steelers rookies like offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, quarterback Drew Allar, wide receiver Germie Bernard, cornerback Daylen Everette, and guard Gennings Dunker take the field for a large portion of the game. For the Jets, we'll see a stacked rookie group that includes top 2026 draft talents like David Bailey, Kenyon Sadiq, Omar Cooper Jr., D'Angelo Ponds, Darrell Jackson Jr., and Cade Klubnik.
Pittsburgh's preseason finale in Week 3 could be the perfect tune-up game against a quality Buffalo Bills team. It's possible that Bills' superstar quarterback Josh Allen suits up for a few offensive series, while the Steelers could do the same with their starters. This game should help Mike McCarthy's team get prepped for their Week 1 home opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
Overall, we can't glean much from the preseason schedule, and it's impossible to determine which opposing starters will take the field from these games. But this is a quality slate of exhibition action in preparation for the Steelers' 2026 regular season.
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