Mike Tomlin told the media in the preseason that his defense was capable of historic things. And boy was he right in the worst of ways. To be fair, he didn’t say historically good. And, in fact, it’s currently on pace to be historically bad for the franchise.
Stephen A. Smith didn’t mince his words about this defense on today’s episode of ESPN’s First Take.
“We ain’t seen our defense this bad in damn near 30 years,” Smith said.
It was an off-the-cuff remark from Smith. I didn’t get the sense he researched the statistics behind his claim. It turns out his instincts were very on point. In fact, he may have been conservative with his 30-year estimate.
The Steelers are allowing 386 yards and 24 points per game. They have the 30th-ranked total defense and the 22nd-ranked scoring defense. When was the last time things were this bad? In terms of total defense, this would be a historic low for the franchise. Since the NFL moved to 32 teams, the lowest Pittsburgh’s defense has finished a season in total defense is 24th in 2021. The worst in franchise history was 28th in 1988.
The scoring defense is slightly better, but still a 30-plus year low for the Steelers. The last time they ranked 22nd was all the way back in 1991 in Chuck Noll’s last season as the Steelers’ head coach.
They still have time to course correct by the end of the season, but I think it’s safe to assume they will not finish anywhere near the top five where many expected them to be.
“It doesn’t matter who they’re going up against. Their defense, it’s not impressive,” Smith said. “What we thought was, all they needed was good quarterback play. Aaron Rodgers has given them that and they don’t have a defense that can stop anybody. That’s the problem.”
How many years have the Steelers felt a quarterback away from being serious contenders? Now they have that guy in Aaron Rodgers, and their defense completely falls apart while being the highest-paid unit in the league by a long shot.
Forget the worst Steelers defense in 30 years. How about the worst Steelers defense of all time? They are currently competing against 1988 for that unfortunate title. And given the price tag, it’s already easily the most disappointing.
