The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense hasn’t been shy about setting the bar high. Juan Thornhill called it potentially the best of all time, Patrick Queen said it’s the best he’s ever played for, and Mike Tomlin himself insisted the group is capable of doing “historic” things. Through two weeks, that all looks like a total farce.
Breaking the defense down to its most basic performance metrics, it’s been downright awful. The Steelers have allowed 394.5 yards and 28 points per game. Those are the fourth- and eighth-worst marks in the league, respectively. For the NFL’s highest-paid defense at $162.8 million, that’s nowhere near acceptable.
If we are going to compare historic Steelers defenses, 2008 is the standard for the modern era. So let’s compare the groups through two games.
The 2025 defense has allowed over double the points and nearly double the yards as the 2008 defense through two games. In fact, the 2025 defense would have to allow zero points and zero yards over the next two weeks to pull even with 2008.
It doesn’t look any better when diving a little deeper into the numbers. This team ended the 2024 season with an abysmal rushing defense, and that has continued into the early portions of 2025.
The Steelers have allowed 299 rushing yards through the first two games. Of those 299 yards, 160 of them have come on just 10 explosive plays. That leaves 139 yards for the other 58 opponent rushing attempts. This highlights the wild inconsistency of the defense.
As our Alex Kozora notes, the 2025 run defense’s first two games joined dubious company in franchise history.
Finally, the Steelers’ third-down defense is completely broken. That is especially the case when the Steelers force opponents into third and long. In situations where this defense is supposed to feast with an elite pass rush, it is getting gashed.
Third-and-long opportunities should be high-percentage plays for this defense, and when its pass rush is at its best. But the Steelers have allowed six conversions on third down with five or more yards to go, including a 19-yard touchdown by Kenneth Walker III on Sunday on 3rd and goal from the 19-yard line.
There are plenty of other examples, too. Just look at this 3rd and 9 at the beginning of the Walker TD drive. Patrick Queen misses a sack, and QB Sam Darnold converts to TE A.J. Barner.
The Steelers can’t allow opponents to convert one of every four third-and-long opportunities, and they certainly can’t allow 46.4-percent conversion rate on third downs overall.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the opposite was true last year. The Steelers’ defense peaked over the first six weeks of the season and then played poorly down the stretch. Things can absolutely change. And there’s reason to believe it might once Derrick Harmon, DeShon Elliott, Joey Porter Jr., and Alex Highsmith return from injury.
Tomlin put the “historic” defense comment out there intentionally to challenge his defense. So far, that group is nowhere near living up to expectations. If this continues, the only thing historic will be Tomlin’s freezing cold take.
