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The Pittsburgh Steelers lost in the Wild Card round, suffering a 28-14 beatdown courtesy of the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers are now 0-5 in the playoffs over the last eight years and calls for the franchise to move on from head coach Mike Tomlin are growing louder.
While Tomlin appears far too entrenched in the organization to leave against his will, the longtime Steelers coach faces several significant challenges this offseason. Although the quarterback dilemma and George Pickens drama are obvious issues Tomlin must tackle heading into 2025, Pittsburgh’s defense presents an unexpected problem.
After a reasonably solid showing during the regular season, former Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley is calling out the Steelers’ defense, which he believes is not good enough to compete with the best offenses in the league.
“I’ve been telling you the backend obviously isn’t good enough… And especially it’s not good enough when the front guys can’t get there. As much as we like Beanie Bishop, [Cam] Sutton, and all those guys, they aren’t good enough. No offense to those guys. They’re just not good enough. They’re good enough to be backup special teams guys, but if you’re looking at the teams that are left in the tournament, they just don’t stack up to that offensive firepower,” Whaley said via Steeler Nation.
“To me, it’s secondary, and then you got to get someone to play in that interior defensive line. Everyone had their eyes on [Keeanu] Benton. I just didn’t see that growth. That first year, we thought we might have something; ‘He’s the heir apparent to [Cameron] Heyward.’ Didn’t happen,” Whaley added.
The Steelers finished the regular season with the 12th-ranked total defense in the league and the eighth-best scoring defense. But while Pittsburgh limited opponents to 20.4 points per game in 2024, the wheels fell off the wagon late in the season. The Steelers stumbled into the playoffs on a four-game losing streak. During that stretch the team gave up over 27 points per contest. And then, in another one-and-done postseason appearance, Pittsburgh allowed the Ravens to score 28 points.
While the Steelers’ defense played well overall, the unit did not live up to the extraordinary expectations created by its collective salary. Pittsburgh fielded the most expensive defense in the NFL this season at $137.2 million, according to The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo.
The Steelers have had the highest-paid defense in the league since 2022 and that trend is expected to continue next season as the team is projected to pay out $168.4 million to its defense – $34 million more than the second-highest paid NFL defense. And the defensive line, which has traditionally been one of Pittsburgh’s biggest strengths, is aging. The team currently boasts the third-oldest D line in football.
Making matters even more complicated, TJ Watt is entering the final year of his deal. The former Defensive Player of the Year will become a free agent following the 2025 season unless the Steelers can work...
