For the second straight week — at least in the 2025 season — the Pittsburgh Steelers defense struggled to stop the run and generated very little pressure on the quarterback. This time, it came back to bite them as they dropped an ugly game to the Seattle Seahawks in their home opener, 31-17.
For star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who was kept in check once again, it’s “not fun football”. In fact, it is leaving him feeling very deflated early in the season.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Watt was candid about the way the Steelers played Sunday.
“There’s always an emphasis on the run. The first note of every single week is smash the run. And you guys have heard me say for nine years, we’re always trying to smash the run. And it’s not a lack of trying, schematic, or effort. I don’t know,” Watt said regarding the run defense issues, according to video via the team’s YouTube page. “We’ll have to look at the film, but we need to be better and we need to look in the mirror. We need to turn over every stone that we possibly can because this can’t continue to happen, otherwise you’re just gonna continue to see what we saw today. Not really able to pin your ears back when teams aren’t able to get to one-dimensional situations.
“You have to wait until a two-minute drill potentially to be able to get after the quarterback like we do, and it’s not fun football right now. We need to get back to doing what we do best and that’s stopping the run first and foremost, to create those longer down and distances.”
The Steelers were gashed on the ground in the AFC Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens, allowing 299 yards. Subsequently, the emphasis all offseason has been on fixing run defense issues, stopping the run, and playing physical football.
Through two weeks of the season, the Steelers have no answers, and it’s leaving their star defender exasperated.
During Sunday’s game against Seattle, Watt wasn’t able to get after quarterback Sam Darnold too much. Seattle was able to run the football, work off of play-action fakes, and carve up Pittsburgh’s defense. The only time Watt was really able to affect the game as a pass rusher was late, and he did so on back-to-back rushes in the fourth quarter. But Seattle put the game away on a Kenneth Walker touchdown, showing once again that Pittsburgh can’t stop the run.
“Very deflating,” Watt said regarding the struggles stopping the run. “I mean, we’re sitting here talking about it the whole press conference.”
It should help when the Steelers get rookie first-round pick Derrick Harmon back onto the field. Unfortunately, he won’t be the fix-all piece that can plug-and-play and correct everything.
What the Steelers are showing defensively is very concerning. As Watt added in the press conference, the Steelers’ defense is too talented to be playing this way. Talent aside, they are what the tape shows right now. It shows a bad defense that can’t stop the run, generates little pressure on the quarterback, and has few answers schematically.
It’s not fun to watch, especially with them being the highest-paid defense in football. It needs to be fixed, and fast.
