Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers organization spent much of their offseason retooling the secondary and investing draft capital into their defensive line, selling the idea that last year’s collapse down the stretch was due to a lack of talent.
And yet, the results in 2025 have largely looked the same. In fact, they’ve looked worse.
The NFL’s most expensive defense was lit up in primetime for the second straight week, this time to the tune of 454 yards and 35 points. Over the first two months of the season, this group ranks 25th in both points per drive and EPA/play, with a success rate that isn’t much better (22nd).
When asked about the root of their struggles in the aftermath of their Sunday Night Football meltdown, Tomlin gave an eye-opening confession.
“Certainly, you start with the schematics because that’s the leadership component of it, and certainly we’ll be looking at everything that we’re doing because some of these problems are somewhat repetitive. We’re not getting better fast enough.”
While Tomlin certainly has a hand in shaping their defensive philosophy, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin’s play calling has been head-scratching at times this season. Last weekend was probably the best example. Packers quarterback Jordan Love ranks 2nd in the NFL in EPA/dropback when blitzed, but that didn’t deter the Steelers from playing their brand of “Blitzburgh” football. Aaron Rodgers’ heir torched Pittsburgh whenever they brought additional rushers, going 12-17 for 211 yards and three touchdowns.
For as bad as the data looks, the film is even worse. There were multiple instances of blitzing safeties from 10 yards of depth, knowing that quarterbacks have been exposing this defense with quick throws over and over. Still a one-score game in the fourth quarter, backup safety Chuck Clark was left on an island to defend Tucker Kraft on a choice route. That went about as you’d expect, resulting in a touchdown and the final dagger in their comeback hopes.
Not sure what's worse:
The idea to blitz a safety 10 yards off the ball when QBs are shredding you with quick game on a weekly basis
or
the fact that we've got two guys covering the same receiver to the opposite of the field.
You just cannot make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/imrVtZYchR
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) October 27, 2025
Curious coaching decisions aside, the execution of the scheme continues to be extremely underwhelming. The communication issues in the secondary continue to show up on a weekly basis, and Minkah Fitzpatrick isn’t around this time to shoulder the blame. On a critical two-point conversion, the Steelers defense only had 10 guys on the field. They don’t tackle well as a collective, and the numbers certainly reflect that, with the Cincinnati Bengals being the only team that has missed more this season. Even as the current leaders in the division, certain players on the team appear to be making business decisions in critical moments. A lack of effort had...
