by Bo Marchionte
@bomarchionte | College2Pro.com
Published November 12, 2026, 2:39 PM
The NFL Doesn’t Hand Out Diplomas in October: McCarthy Knows November Is Where the Education Gets Expensive
Pittsburgh, PA – September is for introductions. October is for establishing credibility. November? That’s when the NFL starts separating the teams that have figured something out from those still pretending they have.
Mike McCarthy has been around this league long enough to recognize the difference between progress and prosperity. One gets you compliments. The other gets you into January.
The Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) arrive at the unofficial halfway house of their season with four consecutive victories, first place in the AFC North and a Sunday night appointment with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The record is attractive. The circumstances are considerably less romantic.
Cincinnati isn’t coming to administer a midterm. Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins represent the kind of offensive firepower that can turn a perfectly respectable defensive afternoon into an embarrassing statistical obituary.
And McCarthy understands that November doesn’t care what you accomplished in October.
“I do know that November football is a time of year where things start going in a distinct direction,” McCarthy said.
It’s a deceptively simple observation from a coach who understands that an NFL season isn’t one continuous exercise. It’s a series of transformations, each demanding something different from the men wearing the uniforms.
September, in McCarthy’s estimation, remains an extension of training camp. Players are learning systems, developing chemistry and discovering which preseason assumptions survive contact with actual opponents.
Pittsburgh’s 2-2 opening wasn’t necessarily a warning sign. It was the cost of construction.
“September’s there’s still a lot of training camp components to September, as far as how you’re still training,” McCarthy explained.
Then October arrived, and Pittsburgh stopped looking like a team learning how to win and started behaving like one expecting to.
“October I told our guys, you know, did a hell of a job. Stepped up. We needed to go four and zero. You know, after two and two we got that done.”
Four games. Four victories. No room for nostalgia.
The Steelers have already doubled their win total from the opening month without adding another loss. That’s a meaningful correction, particularly for a team adjusting to a new head coach and offensive philosophy.
But the Bengals offer something October’s record cannot: an immediate referendum on how much Pittsburgh has actually improved.
The beauty of divisional football is its complete disregard for appearances.
Cincinnati doesn’t need to admire Pittsburgh’s winning streak. Burrow doesn’t care about the Steelers’ internal development. Chase and Higgins aren’t interested in whether the secondary has finally found its rhythm.
They want yards, touchdowns and the satisfaction of ruining somebody else’s Sunday night.
For Pittsburgh, the defensive assignment begins with disrupting Burrow’s timing before Cincinnati’s receivers can turn ordinary completions into extraordinary problems.
The Steelers’ pass rush, led by T.J. Watt, gives them an answer. Watt has 7.5 sacks through eight games, already exceeding his seven-sack total from last season. That’s a pace of nearly 16 sacks over a 17-game schedule.
But pressure means considerably less if Burrow is routinely delivering the football before it arrives.
And that’s where November becomes fascinating. Winning requires more than individual brilliance. It demands coordinated execution, especially against opponents who know your tendencies almost as intimately as you do.
“These games are going to get tougher each and every week,” McCarthy acknowledged. “We obviously have a big division game this week.”
The coach also pointed toward something frequently overlooked when evaluating a team’s trajectory: availability.
“We’re healthy, you know. Health is so important, you know, all the time.”
Eight games into a physically unforgiving season, that’s no small luxury.
McCarthy isn’t promising perfection. He wants daily improvement, particularly in the red zone and on third down, where the difference between a respectable possession and a winning one is often measured in inches.
“End of the day, it’s football,” McCarthy said. “The guys are doing what we need to do, and we’re getting better, and that’s all I really care about.”
There’s no champagne waiting for the team that wins October. No trophy for being the most improved version of yourself.
November is where the lessons get expensive.
And Cincinnati is coming to collect tuition.
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Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
