The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense was a disaster in the team’s 33-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last week, and DL Cameron Heyward opened up about the defense’s struggles on his Not Just Football podcast. Heyward broke down what went wrong across the board for the defense on Thursday Night Football.
“We get a good start, 10-0 to start the game, and then they rip off two big runs. And I feel like it really opened up their offense to feel more comfortable,” he said. “In the run game, we didn’t get off blocks well enough, we didn’t stay in our gaps, and then we didn’t tackle that well. That is a recipe that will kill you. Thursday Night Football is all about self-inflicted wounds. I know the game was close, but as a defense, that was pretty hard to be a part of.”
As for the Steelers’ inability to cover WR Ja’Marr Chase, Heyward blamed communication errors that “hopefully” get cleaned up on the back end. He also pointed to the Steelers’ inability to disrupt Joe Flacco with pressure or batted passes. Against the run, Heyward said the Steelers not staying in their gap and not getting off blocks allowed the Bengals to run for a season-high 142 yards.
Heyward offered a ton of praise for the offensive output and QB Aaron Rodgers, and made it clear the loss is squarely on the shoulders of the defense. It was a brutal defensive performance, and it wasn’t the first time this season that the defense struggled. After the Steelers gave up at least 30 points in Weeks 1 and 2, we heard a lot of the same. Communication issues, players not staying in their gaps, trying to make plays and poor tackling.
While things got better, the exact same issues that plagued Pittsburgh earlier this season returned under the bright lights in primetime. At some point, the more it keeps happening, it becomes a trend and not just a bad game. That also reflects poorly on coaching, with both Teryl Austin and Mike Tomlin deserving blame for the defensive performances.
The lack of consistency is problematic. The defensive line deserves a lot of blame for not defending the run better, while the secondary’s poor pass coverage allowed Joe Flacco to cook all night. Some of that blame could go to the front seven for not generating pressure, but Flacco got the ball out fast and the inability to neutralize Chase or Tee Higgins was a bigger factor.
It’s something the Steelers have to clean up against the Packers this Sunday, and if they don’t, it’s going to get harder and harder to buy into a defensive turnaround.
