Even Mike Tomlin is acknowledging how good the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense could be in 2025. For good reason. It’s an offseason that saw the acquisition of defensive back Jalen Ramsey, a player the team believes can wear any hat he puts on. A facelift of the front seven with a slew of draft picks in Derrick Harmon, Yahya Black, and Jack Sawyer. Signing CB Darius Slay, the savvy vet with a Super Bowl ring. Looking good on paper and looking good on the field are two very different things but Tomlin is setting the bar high for his defense.
“We feel really good about the prospects of this group,” Tomlin said in an interview that aired on 102.5 DVE Tuesday morning. “We gotta write that story. But we’ve got enough talent, we’ve got enough schematics to do big, big things. And when I say big things, I’m talking about historic things.”
Tomlin knows as well as anybody, and makes mention of it in the quote, results are all that matters. If the defense struggles all season or even in another playoff game, as it has in the last several, there will be nothing “historic” about it. At least, not in a good way.
But Tomlin is feeding into the hype. Pittsburgh has been a top-10 scoring defense in five of the last six seasons, but with the group the Steelers have assembled, expectations should be higher than that. At the least, a top-five scoring unit needs to be the goal. The Steelers haven’t finished there since 2020.
Becoming an elite unit means having virtually zero weaknesses. For the Steelers, it begins with stopping the run. That will create third-and-longs, unlock the pass rush, and result in more takeaways (since 2019, no team has more of them than Pittsburgh). At every level, the defense has talent. Veteran Cam Heyward up front, still an elite interior lineman. T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith making up a top-tier duo at outside linebacker. The promising Payton Wilson at inside linebacker. A cornerback group that’s as good as any and key role players like SS DeShon Elliott and EDGE Nick Herbig, two players not considered stars but clear assets to the defense.
Schematically, the Steelers look different. More blitzes, more aggressiveness, and more disguises to keep offenses guessing.
Historic is a heavy word to use, especially in Pittsburgh. They can claim the No. 1 defense in NFL history, the 1976 unit that allowed 28 points in its final 12 regular-season games. The 2025 Steelers won’t do that but if they can feel like the 2005, 2008, or 2010 editions, lofty but attainable goals, Pittsburgh will break its playoff drought and find itself in Super Bowl contention.
