Steelers Now
A former NFL general manager did not hold back when assessing the Pittsburgh Steelers defense’s rough start to the season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were confident they were going to have one of the best, if not the best defense in the league this season. However, that is far from how things have played out thus far and now they are earning some criticism from around the NFL.
Former general manager Ran Carthon did not hold back when assessing the play of the Steelers defense through the first two weeks of the regular season.
“It definitely can’t get any worse,” Carthon said. “They rank in the bottom third of every statistical category with the exception of short-yardage efficiency, where they’re 14th. At this point, it can’t get any worse. We’ve seen this defense do some unprecedented things, but it all starts up front. It always has. It always will.”
Pittsburgh does have several new faces on the defensive side of the ball. The team signed free agent cornerbacks Darius Slay and Brandin Echols and safeties Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark, drafted defensive tackle Derrick Harmon in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft and traded for cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
However, Carthon believes the Steelers returning players are the ones who should be held accountable for their rough start to the season.
“They’ve made some considerable contributions to improve their secondary,” Carthon said. “But the guys up front, the guys they’ve paid a lot of money to, the T.J. Watts, the Alex Highsmiths, the Cam Heywards, those guys got to be able to stop the run game and get after people in the passing game.”
That is something the unit has not been able to do. In fact, Pittsburgh has been historically bad at it, allowing 100-yard rushers and at least 31 points in each of the first two games for the first time in head coach Mike Tomlin’s 19-year tenure.
Carthon may be right that things can’t get much worse, but if the Steelers want to establish themselves as true contenders and finally end their playoff win drought this season, they better find a way to improve as a whole sooner rather than later.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former GM Blasts Steelers Defense: ‘Can’t Get Any Worse’
