They say defense wins championships. And with the highest-paid defense in the NFL, the Steelers should be Super Bowl contenders, right? Instead, the Steelers’ offense has had to carry the load.
Whether the issue was sheer talent or bad coaching, the Steelers were overwhelmed defensively by a Cincinnati Bengals team that was not playing well heading into last Thursday’s game. Cincinnati’s playmakers got the better of them, and team insider Mike DeFabo thinks it’s a lesson that the Steelers should start spending more on their offense going forward.
“The Bengals and Steelers basically took two polar opposite approaches to roster building,” DeFabo said Sunday on 93.7 The Fan. “The Steelers went all-in on defense. And then you’ve got the Bengals, who paid two star wide receivers number one-type money. And I think what we found out is, offense beats defense in the NFL these days. That’s just the way it is. And I think after seeing that, the Steelers might wanna think about the way they manage their salary cap going forward.”
DeFabo echoes a sentiment many Steelers fans have felt in recent years. With all the offensive struggles since Ben Roethlisberger retired, fans have long been begging for a bigger investment on that side of the ball. However, the Steelers wanted a stronger defense. And coming into the year they expected to have one of the best units in the league.
Unfortunately, some of those moves just aren’t paying off right now. The Steelers paid Patrick Queen a lot of money two offseasons ago, and he’s yet to consistently play at a high level. They’ve made numerous investments, both with money and draft picks on their defensive line. Yet that unit is being shoved around and was just run all over by an offense that was historically bad running the ball this season.
Finally, at the crux of it all is the cornerback position. The same spot in which the Steelers prepared to stop teams exactly like the Bengals. They signed Darius Slay, brought in Jalen Ramsey, and spent a high pick on Joey Porter Jr. a couple of years ago. That resulted in 257 yards and two touchdowns on 20 receptions for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combined.
Both Chase and Higgins got massive contract extensions this past offseason. While the Bengals did eventually give Trey Hendrickson an extension, their focus has clearly been on bolstering their offense. The defense has taken some lumps as a result. But the Bengals are certainly using their stars on offense better than the Steelers are on their defense.
To give the Steelers some grace, they are retooling offensively. Most of the starting offensive linemen are on their rookie contracts. At skill positions, they have younger players like Calvin Austin III, Jaylen Warren, Roman Wilson and Darnell Washington. Eventually, it will start to even out once some of those players receive extensions. And for what it’s worth, the offense is playing very well right now anyway.
The idea the Steelers had with their defense wasn’t bad. On paper, it should be a very good unit. But it’s not right now. They need to coach better, and the players need to play better at all three levels of the unit. The defense won’t live up to its preseason hype before each of those start to happen.
