Former Baltimore Ravens DL Chris Canty is typically not a big fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before the season, he went as far as to predict them finishing last in the AFC North.
Six weeks into the 2025 season, that prediction is several football fields from reality. Not only do the Steelers lead the division, but they look significantly better than the other three teams. The Steelers picked up their first divisional win against the Cleveland Browns Sunday, and the performance was so good it’s started to chance Canty’s mind.
“Yesterday, the Steelers showed me something,” Canty said Monday on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. “Defensively, they’re still capable of being able to dominate games. And they’re doing it with their front, right? Nick Herbig, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cam Heyward. Those dudes came to play. And they dominated the Cleveland Browns’ offensive line. That performance was elite.”
The Steelers are 4-1, but their first couple of wins were far from dominant. The offensive line was brutal, and the Steelers were poor in the run game on both sides of the ball. That led many analysts, like Canty, to think the way in which Pittsburgh was winning was unsustainable. And to his credit, some of it was.
However, we’ve now seen some steady improvement over the last three games. Flashes of a run game started to show in Week 3. Against Minnesota in Week 4, the ground game broke out for 131 yards. In a hard-nosed AFC North affair, the Steelers hit exactly 100 rushing yards on Sunday. And over that same time span, the defense has really started to come alive.
The Steelers are inching closer to becoming a lock for the playoffs. Once they get there, Canty thinks the Steelers could be a tough team to beat.
“If their defense is capable of that level of play, sprinkling in some turnovers, and you’re getting this version of Aaron Rodgers?” Canty asked. “Then yeah, I think this Pittsburgh Steelers team is capable of being able to get into the tournament and being a dangerous out.”
This is quite a reversal from Canty, but it’s hard to blame him. While the Steelers winning the division started to seem more real a couple of weeks ago, they hadn’t quite looked the part yet.
However, what they showed in manhandling the Browns is exactly what the Steelers want to be. Their defense was extremely impressive, stuffing a talented young running back all day and making life tough through the air. Offensively, they didn’t make many mistakes, took care of the ball, and allowed Aaron Rodgers to make enough important throws to win comfortably.
That version of winning is sustainable. The Steelers finally have it all clicking. Canty’s changed his mind, and if the Steelers keep playing at this level, they could change the minds of many more as the year goes on.
