The Pittsburgh Steelers’ greatest strength has undoubtedly been their defensive line. That unit is firing on all cylinders, and now that the Steelers’ top edge rushers are all healthy, it is an intimidating group. Those players will need to bring their very best this week against the Philadelphia Eagles, who have arguably the best offensive line in football. Left tackle Jordan Mailata is one of their anchors, standing at around 6-8 and weighing over 350 pounds. Despite his size, he isn’t taking the Steelers’ defensive line lightly.
“Effort, well-disciplined,” Mailata said recently via the Eagles’ YouTube channel. “You can tell they’re very well-coached up front. They all apply the same technique, very army-type. They just all look very uniform. Not army-type, uniform. I meant uniform.”
It’s funny to hear Mailata compare the Steelers to the army when the word uniform escaped him. There are maybe some layers to that of which Mailata probably isn’t even aware. The Steelers don’t currently have any army veterans on their team, but they did not too long ago.
Alejandro Villanueva was an offensive tackle for the Steelers from 2014-2020. He served in the army before breaking into the NFL, becoming a huge success story. However, before he was with the Steelers, he was a defensive lineman for the Eagles. There’s a lot of funny history between the Steelers, the Eagles, and the army.
The laughs didn’t end there with a reporter following up with some banter, joking that they believed Mailata meant the Steelers looked like the army. It seems like Mailata has a good sense of humor because he ran with it.
“Shit, they look like it,” he said.
It’s a good joke, but one with a little bit of truth to it. Mailata’s observations about the Steelers’ defensive line are correct. He’s not the first one to point out how they all play with a similar mentality. Part of that is because of the top-end talent they have for younger guys to learn from. When you get to watch T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, you should probably try to emulate them
That’s also one of that group’s biggest strengths. Take one look at the Steelers’ game against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, for example. No one was trying to play like a hero. Everyone did their job and played their role, maintaining gap integrity. That allowed the Steelers to limit Jackson, who had been gashing teams up to that point.
Players like Watt have expressed that sentiment too. The Steelers don’t want “independent contractors” on their defensive line. They understand that their unity defines them. They’re a platoon, not just a collection of soldiers.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, the same things can be said about the Eagles’ offensive linemen. They’re big, intimidating, and they communicate well. They look like an army just as much as the Steelers’ defensive line does. These two groups are going to war this weekend, and we’ll see who’s got the most firepower to secure victory.
