The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is playing worse than expected, and there are a couple reasons for that. Some point to an aging unit, one with stars in their 30s who aren’t performing up to expectations. Others look at the coaching from Mike Tomlin, Teryl Austin and the rest of the staff.
“The guy that’s under the microscope is Teryl Austin,” ESPN’s Marcus Spears said Wednesday on First Take. “The defensive coordinator.”
Austin isn’t the most-liked Steelers coordinator in recent memory. His unit started to struggle against the run halfway through the 2024 season, and those issues have just never gone away. Despite multiple additions to the defensive line this offseason, some of which have played well individually, the unit as a whole seems unable to build any consistency together.
A large part of the frustration surrounding the defense is the lack of adjustments. It’s something people have complained about for years, and the loss to the Bengals last Thursday is a prime example. The Steelers couldn’t solve anything against one of the worst rushing attacks in the league and allowed themselves to get beat over the middle through the air over and over again.
While the struggles have been real, Spears is expecting the defense to improve.
“I’m not out on the fact that one week could change a lot,” he said. “Do you really think this defense is going to play like this the rest of the way?”
The loss was bad, but it was a classic trap game. The Steelers were coming off three straight wins and were on the road against a divisional opponent on a short week. That doesn’t excuse the loss, but sometimes surprising results like that happen in the NFL.
The defense still needs to be much better going forward, but there’s some hope it can be. The Steelers looked like they were making steady defensive improvement in the wins over New England, Minnesota and Cleveland. It unraveled against Cincinnati, but during those previous three games the Steelers were forcing turnovers and playing better against the run.
They’ve had a week and a half of soul searching to do. It may result in some better showings going forward. The schedule isn’t easy, but there is so much talent on this unit that the Steelers should be able to figure it out. Until they do, it’s going to be tough for Teryl Austin to keep his name out of headlines.
