Is the Steelers’ defense a fraud?
The Steelers certainly invest in their defense, through the draft, free agency and internally, but where are the results? They might produce splash plays — most of the time — but how many games are they winning because of them?
Right now, the Steelers have a quarterback leading the NFL in touchdown passes and a defense ranked 17th in points per game. A defense that has T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, Patrick Queen, Joey Porter Jr., DeShon Elliott and Derrick Harmon. These are all supposed to be “name” players, yet they too often don’t play well as a defense.
Going into this season, the Steelers hoped to provide Aaron Rodgers a running game and defense that would allow him to pick his spots. Instead, they’ve often had to try to rely on him. On the whole, he has done as well as one can reasonably expect, minus a small handful of bad plays. In recent weeks, he has even shown some mobility, which is nice to see.
But the Steelers need their defense to hold up their end of the bargain. Can we really say that they are? When they’re not taking the ball away, they look pedestrian as often as not. And as the past week has reminded us, you can’t rely on “the culture” to take the ball away for you. They’ve missed some opportunities with dropped interceptions, but that’s still not sufficient.
One concern is the fact that the Steelers claim they had a plan to counter Joe Flacco’s quick passes, yet it didn’t work. Indeed, it worked so poorly, it appeared that they didn’t actually have a plan. They allowed Flacco to throw for 342 yards and three touchdowns (which could have been four). Chase Brown had over 100 yards rushing on 11 carries. And I don’t need to remind you of what Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins did to the Steelers’ cornerbacks.
When the Steelers’ best players on defense aren’t playing like they expected, what room is there for hope? Ramsey doesn’t look like he’s a lockdown corner anymore. Watt and Heyward are not consistently affecting games. Yes, it was a divisional road game on a short week, and it’s just one week. But is this the final proof that the defense is a fraud? It’s certainly not historic in any positive sense, I know that much.
After another disappointing season and months of retooling, the Steelers are set to try it all again in 2025. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. They settled in on Aaron Rodgers, but we still have a lot to learn about him. The 2025 NFL Draft class could play a big role, but veteran additions like Jalen Ramsey will be paramount.
Now we are in the regular season. From Rodgers to George Pickens to Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ramsey, we’ve seen the Steelers make some big changes. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and figuring out how it all works out.
