The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is still trying to find its footing. It’s a bit worrisome that they’re still struggling heading into Week 4, and some are starting to blame the coaching staff if the issues aren’t fixed soon. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thinks some problems stem from the defense being too vanilla.
“It seems like we’re a pretty vanilla defense as it is,” Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast, airing on Tuesday. “It doesn’t feel like, to me, we’re getting a lot of unique pressures, unique defenses… I wanna see Jalen Ramsey blitzing. I wanna see more linebacker stuff. I’d like to see the uniqueness.”
Stagnancy was a major issue that plagued the Steelers’ defense at the end of the 2024 season. They made drastic personnel moves this offseason, and many thought the unit would be much more complex this year. There was talk of moving T.J. Watt around more. With players like Jalen Ramsey, DeShon Elliott, Chuck Clark, and now Jabrill Peppers, all of whom play a physical style of football, they could stand to be aggressive in the secondary.
So far, that hasn’t been the case. Injuries haven’t helped, and the defense could certainly be more unique. But they have to be able to execute basics first. The Steelers have been outrushed by all three of their opponents and have allowed at least 100 rushing yards per game. Until they stop teams from running the ball down their throat and finding open receivers due to miscommunications, it’s going to be hard to become more complex.
Still, Roethlisberger is seeing some improvement with the unit.
“I think you should be excited, as a Steelers fan, about the defense,” Roethlisberger said. “I think there’s definitely excitement, I would think, where the defense is going… The defense is trending in the right direction, let’s say that.”
There definitely was some improvement on Sunday. Although they surrendered 119 rushing yards, many of those came from Drake Maye breaking the pocket and scrambling. Pittsburgh didn’t allow any of New England’s backs to pick up 30 yards on the ground. They also forced four fumbles. Cam Heyward tipped a pass, which Brandin Echols intercepted in the end zone, marking a massive turning point in the game.
“Bend, but don’t break” probably isn’t the qualifier the Steelers’ defense hoped to be defined by this year. They wanted to be dominant instead. But at least they’re not breaking as much as they did during the first two weeks. They must make improvements, but Sunday was a small step in the right direction.
