Following a complete dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ defense by Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, a franchise legend made a call for change.
In the latest episode of his “Deebo and Joe” podcast alongside fellow former Steeler Joe Haden, James Harrison was exacerbated by Pittsburgh’s defensive struggles and couldn’t remember the last time the team has ever performed this poorly on that side of the ball.
“What is happening?” Harrison said. “Pittsburgh Steelers are built on defense. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the defense be this bad. We can’t tackle nobody. We are freaking cooked. We’re the 30th-ranked defense in the NFL.”
Additionally, Harrison called for change on some level and inferred that some individuals may need to lose their roles in order for the defense to truly turn the tide moving forward.
“Things gotta get changed,” Harrison said. “People gotta go. Highest-paid, 30th ranked, don’t match. I don’t know what needs to happen, but we need to go on ahead and maybe redo this whole thing and get something else going.”
Oct 26, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) stiff arms Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey (5) during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Heading into Week 9, Pittsburgh is now giving up the third-most yards of any defense in the league at 386.0. That’s simply unacceptable for a veteran unit that’s the highest-paid in the league, as Harrison noted.
Against Green Bay, the Steelers gave up an absurd 454 yards while also allowing 28 points in the second half, which sealed their 35-25 loss despite leading 16-7 at halftime.
Love turned in his best game of this season as well, throwing for 360 yards and completing 20 passes in a row at one point during the night.
The only instance in which Pittsburgh’s defense has consistently stopped its opponent this season was against the Cleveland Browns during Week 6, holding them to nine points and 248 yards. That feat isn’t quite as impressive with the context that they are averaging the second-fewest yards per game (263.5) while starting a third-round rookie at quarterback in Dillon Gabriel.
The loss of DeShon Elliott, who suffered a significant knee injury against the Packers, is only going to accentuate Pittsburgh’s defensive troubles.
The Steelers also messed with their personnel in the secondary by benching Darius Slay Jr. in favor of Brandin Echols vs. Green Bay, but they’ll need to continue mixing and matching until they uncover a reliable formula.
It’s incredibly unlikely, if not entirely improbable, that Pittsburgh is going to part ways with any coaches during the season, so any solutions will have to take place on the field itself.
Maybe the organization will attempt to switch some things up at the deadline and acquire a player or two to help reinvigorate the unit, but it’s hard to truly make a splash via trade at this time of year.
For now, the Steelers are going to have to make do with what already they have in their building and hope they can begin trending upwards in the near future.