Week 2 of the 2026 regular season proved disastrous for the Pittsburgh Steelers, ending with a crushing 3-20 defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots. Much of the blame for Pittsburgh’s poor showing has fallen on its offense, including an uncharacteristic drop in starting wide receiver DK Metcalf’s production.
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Steelers legend Antonio Brown wasn’t having any of it, however. Brown posted on X on September 22, calling out the Steelers wide receiver by calling him “DK Dropkat”.
“Metcalf, okay, third-down, drop, Metcalf, fourth down, Metcalf, drop. His hands don’t work,” Brown said, per the video he posted on X. “Everything drop with Metcalf. If I was dropping a ball like this fam, n***** would literally call the police.”
Metcalf, who established himself as Aaron Rodgers’ primary target last season, is nearly leading the league with four drops two games into the 2026 season. So far, he has tallied only right receptions for 67 yards, and zero scores. There’s also his glaring inability to find separation, making things more difficult for the offense.
It’s not just AB. Steelers fans are all wondering what is really wrong with the wide receiver.
During their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, the receiver dropped a 20-yard pass from Rodgers and another that could have been a deep touchdown. In Week 2, Metcalf struggled to create separation from Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez and recorded just four catches on nine targets for 27 yards. He also saw at least two drops, leading analysts to wonder whether this could become a recurring issue for the WR this season.
The second drop came at a time when the Steelers were only one score behind in the fight. But the Patriots scored a field goal after the drive in which Metcalf dropped the pass.
Metcalf has all the tools needed to become an elite receiver, standing at an impressive 6’4” and weighing 235 lbs, and having an innate explosiveness that is characteristic of elite wide receivers. The Steelers traded for him in 2025, in exchange for a second-round pick and are paying him a whopping $33 million per year. Metcalf hasn’t done much to make those numbers look good for the team.
The Pittsburgh WR earned a 52.0 overall PFF grade in the 2026 season, ranking 71st among 78 qualified wide receivers. Earlier this season, many analysts pointed to Metcalf’s abysmal PFF ranking, believing that the Steelers had overestimated his caliber as a WR1. And, Brown isn’t the only former Steelers star to doubt Metcalf’s prowess.
“Bro can’t catch for s—t,” former running back Le’Veon Bell wrote on X.
Metcalf’s dip in production is not lost on him. After the humiliating loss to the Patriots, he addressed his game.
“Very frustrating. Especially starting with myself. We just got to be better all around as a group on offense,” Metcalf said. “Somebody is going to step up and make a play. They were coming by and telling me to keep my head up and everything, but I just gotta be better.”
However, Rodgers believes he and Metcalf can turn this thing around.
Aaron Rodgers is firm in his belief in DK Metcalf
The costly drops from Metcalf upended whatever Rodgers tried to do to save the Steelers’ face in these past two games. Yet, the quarterback believes Metcalf is not a cause for concern.
“I’m not worried about it. We’re going to get it sorted out,” Rodgers said on Sunday. “We’ve been on the same page since I came back. I’ll talk with DK like I always do, and we’ll be fine.”
Rodgers also addressed the missed touchdown opportunity as well, blaming the officials for not calling penalties he believes should have been called.
“The whole thing can be deceiving,” Rodgers said. “We had PI on a third down that could have been a touchdown. We had another blatant PI on DK that wasn’t called,” Rodgers added. “Had DK in the end zone. For sure PI. He still almost made a ridiculous catch. And then one that DK obviously usually catches.”
There are speculations as to whether this can be a mental thing for Metcalf. An uncharacteristically bad opening game might have rattled the WR, which might have affected the Patriots game as well. Though Metcalf has not said anything in this regard, head coach Mike McCarthy did allude to this theory.
“When confidence isn’t right, execution suffers,” he said after the Patriots game.
Former Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger, who had a great dynamic with Antonio Brown during their playing careers, also offered some simple advice.
“Don’t overthink it,” he said on his podcast. “Just play. … Just be you.”
Roethlisberger also suggested that Metcalf lean on his years of experience playing football and take a full stock of what he can do. Whether or not that comes to fruition in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals is the question.