The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense hasn’t played anywhere near the level of expectations they set for themselves ahead of the season. Juan Thornhill thought the unit could have been the best of all time, and Mike Tomlin said they could do historic things.
If they’re going to do anything historic this year, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be in a good way. For the ridiculous amount of talent the Steelers have added on that side of the ball this year, the performance has been incredibly disappointing. Despite that, the mood seems to remain high. That’s the takeaway Steelers insider Brooke Pryor had after their practice on Thursday.
“Thursday, I thought, was the best day of practice the Steelers have had in a long, long time,” Pryor said on ESPN’s NFL Live on Friday. “I’m not permitted to tell you exactly what was happening, but I can generally tell you the vibes were good, the music was loud, the sun was shining. I do think that this team is not panicking. While there is frustration on the defense, it’s not the ‘woe is us’ frustration that I felt at the end of last season.”
It’s certainly good that the level of frustration isn’t the same. The Steelers lost their last four regular season games and their playoff game to end the 2024 season. It felt like they gave up far before the season officially ended, though. Pittsburgh had no heart on offense or defense, with the defensive issues being the most jarring.
The world is far from falling apart in Pittsburgh. It’s been just two weeks and the Steelers are still 1-1. However, the fact that the defense has shown no improvement, despite all the additions, has brought some doom and gloom. Communication issues were talked about at length last December and January. Sure enough, they’re still a problem in September. And stopping the run has been about as hard as solving a Rubik’s Cube for this defense, allowing 299 rushing yards through two weeks.
The new additions haven’t made as much of an impact as the Steelers wanted. Jalen Ramsey has come up with some big plays here and there, but the rest of his secondary hasn’t impressed. They’ve given up a couple deep shots, and several 3rd-and-long conversions against the Seahawks. It hasn’t been much better up front. No part of the defense has really played with any synergy so far.
The Steelers’ defense has time to figure things out, but it doesn’t get any easier as the season goes along. Drake Maye and the Patriots woke up offensively against the Dolphins last week. There’s plenty of explosiveness on that offense. Likewise, the Steelers offense needs to wake up a bit as well. If both sides can finally play some complimentary football, the difference on the field will look apparent come Sunday.
