Through two games, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense has been bad, and many of those issues start up front. The Steelers aren’t being physical enough against the run, and they haven’t been the best at getting to the quarterback either. However, Teryl Austin thinks his unit did a better job of creating chaos up front against the Seahawks last Sunday than in Week 1. Interestingly, he points out that the secondary and the pass rush need to work in tandem, seemingly a tell that the secondary could be an issue in his eyes.
“[Blitzing] almost doesn’t do much for us, almost gets them first downs. I did think some of the execution of our pressures up front were really good,” Austin said Thursday via Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski on X. “Got what we wanted, we were able to get in and get some hits on the quarterback. Our rush and coverage, all that stuff has to work together. And right now, we’re just a little bit off in that area.”
It’s not like the Steelers aren’t getting to the quarterback at all with three sacks in two games. However, their pass rush as been as effective as the unit would like. T.J. Watt still doesn’t have a sack or a pressure. His teammate on the other side, Alex Highsmith, went down with an injury in the Seahawks game and won’t play Sunday in New England. He joins DeShon Elliott and a few others on a defense that has been hit with a spate of injuries.
That said, the secondary was thought to be the real strength of this unit. The Steelers brought in accomplished veteran Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay during the offseason. Add Joey Porter Jr., and the Steelers have one of the best cornerback trios in the league, at least on paper.
That hasn’t exactly shown up on the field, which is what Teryl Austin seems to be hinting at here. He mentions that up front, the execution is looking better. He doesn’t explicitly say the secondary needs to be better but certainly implies it.
Whatever the issue is, the Steelers need better performances from everyone on that unit. Even if the front seven is getting to the passer as Austin says, it is still doing a terrible job against the run. And the coverage is lacking too, the Steelers allowing multiple third and long conversions to Seattle last week. Teryl Austin’s defense is the highest-paid one in the league. It needs to start playing like it sooner rather than later.
