The Pittsburgh Steelers made many changes to their defense this offseason, including getting rid of Minkah Fitzpatrick and adding players like Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay. Because of that, they hoped that the unit would be one of the NFL’s best. Unfortunately, they were very underwhelming in Week 1. The New York Jets punched them in the mouth, putting up 32 points. Despite that, former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn isn’t criticizing the Steelers too harshly.
“I’m not concerned about them defensively moving forward,” Quinn said Monday on his 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe podcast. “They’re still one of the better defensive teams. They’ll get this corrected. They’ll get this turned right back around. I think, for Steelers fans, you should be excited.
“You’ve got a passing game where, I don’t know when the last time was, you saw a game like that where your quarterback threw for four touchdown passes, had complete command of the offense, and it just looked how it’s supposed to look. You probably have to go back to Ben Roethlisberger, and maybe a few years back in his time as the Steelers’ quarterback, where you felt this confident about the offense.”
The Steelers’ offensive performance was encouraging in some respects. Specifically, Aaron Rodgers was a pleasant surprise. There were questions about how well he could still play at 41 years old. However, he was arguably their best player in Week 1. Without him, they don’t win that game.
However, that doesn’t mean the Steelers’ offense performed well overall. Their running game was awful. They’re supposed to be able to lean on that, but they got very little going on the ground. Also, their offensive line, Broderick Jones in particular, had an ugly day.
Part of that might be because of the Jets’ talent on defense. That group has some stars, such as Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner. If the Steelers want to be Super Bowl contenders, they’ll need to perform against stout defenses.
It remains to be seen if Quinn is also right about the Steelers’ defense. He’s practicing patience, which is fair because it’s only been one game. The Steelers’ defensive issues might not follow them throughout the season.
However, the real concern is that some of their problems date back to last year. The biggest of which is their run defense. Towards the end of the 2024 season, the Steelers’ run defense became a serious weakness. They didn’t do much to put those worries to bed to start 2025.
Therefore, it’s fair to be a little concerned about how the Steelers’ defense will hold up throughout the year. They’re hard at work taking what they learned from Week 1 and trying to eliminate their mistakes. Maybe that will show up in Week 2 and prove Quinn’s patience correct. If not, the Steelers could find themselves in for a long season.
