Steelers Now
One of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defenders gave his honest opinion for their struggles against the New York Jets.
The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2025 regular season with the belief that they were fielding one of the best defenses in the league. However, that looked far from the case in Week 1 as they narrowly escaped with a 34-32 win against the New York Jets.
Of course, getting the win was the most important thing, but Steelers veteran safety Juan Thornhill thinks he knows the reasoning for the defense’s struggles on Sunday.
“We got a lot of things we’ve got to work on already on the defensive side. I feel like we might have not been prepared for a running quarterback because we’ve be seeing a guy like Aaron (Rodgers) who’s not really using his legs to try to beat us,” Thornhill said. “Next time, I feel like we’ll be prepared for that.”
Jets quarterback Justin Fields did have his way for most of the afternoon, throwing for 218 yards and one touchdown as well as rushing for 48 yards and two more scores.
However, a lot of Pittsburgh’s players on defense are no stranger to Fields, who spent the 2024 season with the team.
That coupled with the fact that the unit is made up of several veterans with plenty of experience against all different types of quarterbacks does bring reason for concern, especially with at least two meetings with two-time NFL MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson on the schedule.
Luckily, there is plenty of season still ahead for the Steelers to right their wrongs, which is exactly the mentality the group has, according to Thornhill.
“You would think guys might come in here on the defensive side and be a little upset, but we know we can play better,” he said. “We came out with a win. It’s hard to get those wins in this league.”
Pittsburgh will have the chance to bounce back in Week 2 against the Seattles Seahawks and a less-mobile quarterback in Sam Darnold.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Safety Exposes Defense’s Struggles vs. Jets: ‘We Might Have Not Been Prepared’
