The Pittsburgh Steelers have been synonymous with great defense since the 1970s, but that’s not the case with the current edition.

The Steelers have spent vast resources in 2025 on maintaining that identity. They used this year’s first-round pick on a defensive lineman (Derrick Harmon at No. 21), and they have the highest-paid defensive roster in the league, according to Over The Cap — they are spending nearly $30 million more than the next closest team, the New York Giants. However, the return on investment has been underwhelming, and has been for years now.

Even in recent seasons when they finished with strong regular-season metrics, the defense would get exposed in big games. In the last two seasons, they were eliminated in the wild-card round, giving up a total of 59 points in those games.

Steelers Defense

Rank

Salary

$163,298,456

1st

DVOA

5.80%

22nd

Points allowed per game

25

22nd

Def EPA per snap

2

18th

Yards allowed per game

386

30th

Against good offenses, they’ve been outschemed and look like an undisciplined unit. A common theme in these games is that offensive coordinators know exactly what the Steelers are going to do and find ways to expose their defensive rules. In 2018, the Chargers consistently got prime Keenan Allen matched up with the Steelers’ linebackers because of Pittsburgh’s match coverages. Various opposing players throughout the years have publicly said the Steelers’ defensive schemes are predictable. The latest being Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who had 16 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers in Cincinnati’s Week 7 win.

“They did exactly what we was expecting and hoping they’d do,” Chase said after the game on the Bengals’ YouTube channel. “Man (coverage). We knew they was gonna put Joey (Porter Jr.) on Tee (Higgins) and put Jalen (Ramsey) on me. And we knew that we was ready for it. We was gonna take advantage of those opportunities.”

In that game, Chase consistently beat Ramsey in regular man coverage, but the problem is even worse when they blitzed and played man because there was no help. The Steelers were actually lucky not to get burned for more yardage because quarterback Joe Flacco was still trying to get in tune with his new weapons, but the opportunities were there. When they did try to double Chase, they did so with poor technique, essentially wasting a defender.

Week 7, 12:53 remaining in the third quarter, second-and-3

Here, the Steelers had a blitz called with a double on Chase. Corner Darius Slay had Chase in man with outside leverage, while safety Chuck Clark had Chase over the top with inside leverage. The issue was that Clark was nearly 20 yards deep, which created a huge gap in front of him for Chase to work inside.

Chase ran a simple quick slant and because Slay was playing heavy to the outside, he easily beat him. Clark tried to drive on the ball, but he was too deep. Flacco took one step and threw the ball before the blitz could even get close to affecting him.

Chase caught the ball, and Clark wasn’t close to him, allowing him to run after the catch. This is a nightmare scenario for a blitz. The offense got the ball to their playmaker in space without the rush getting even close to the quarterback. Even if Chase had been tackled as he caught the ball, he still would have gotten the first down.

When the Steelers tried more aggressive double teams, the Bengals had answers, and when they went to zone late in the game, they had coverage botches. The Steelers have been getting killed by simple motions because they aren’t adjusting or communicating properly.

Week 7, 2:00 remaining in the fourth quarter, first-and-10

Up by one point with two minutes remaining, the Steelers blew a coverage and left Chase completely uncovered. Tee Higgins motioned across the formation. The Steelers got caught adjusting late. And their linebackers bumped over right before the snap.

After the snap, both linebackers jumped the flat and no one followed Chase on a simple shallow route. Presumably, Ramsey was supposed to follow him because there was no one left to cover Chase, but Ramsey remained deep.

Chase caught the ball short and once again had a world of space to run.

The Packers watched the tape. Matt LaFleur is one of the best coaches in the league at drawing up plays to attack specific coverages. If he knows what you’re going to be in, your defense is going to be toast. Knowing the Steelers want to play man and blitz, he used simple motions to create space for tight end Tucker Kraft to run. The Packers ran variations of those concepts throughout the game and killed the Steelers with them.

Week 8, 5:32 remaining in the first quarter, first-and-10

On the Packers’ first touchdown, Kraft motioned across the formation. Ramsey had Kraft in man initially, but safety DeShon Elliott was responsible for taking Kraft as he motioned.

Kraft ran a simple arrow route, but Elliott was late taking Kraft, leaving him plenty of space to catch and run. Kraft broke Elliott’s tackle and rumbled into the end zone. Kraft had 128 yards after the catch against the Steelers by running concepts similar to this one.

Wouldn’t be National Tight Ends Day without a TE TD on SNF

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— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2025

Week 8, 9:15 remaining in the third quarter, second-and-8

Here, receiver Savion Williams got in on the fun. The Packers started in empty, and this time, Williams motioned over instead of Kraft. Clark had Williams in man.

Clark couldn’t run over in time to cover Williams, so the Packers threw a simple bubble screen to him that went for a touchdown.

Love to Savion Williams makes it a two-point game!

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— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2025

Aside from being too predictable schematically, the Steelers’ technique and execution have been terrible. That’s inexcusable for a group of veteran defensive backs.

Week 8, 14:55 remaining in the fourth quarter

On a two-point try, the Packers started in bunch and put receiver Matthew Golden in motion. As Golden released, Porter and Ramsey had to work in tandem to cover the two Packers receivers in a bunch.

A common rule is that the inside corner takes the first vertical release while the outside corner takes the other receiver. However, Porter and Ramsey both took the vertical release, leaving Romeo Doubs wide open in the flats.

The Packers went back to attacking this same bug in the Pittsburgh defense on their next possession.

Week 8, 11:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, third-and-4

This time, the Packers had Christian Watson motion across the formation, leaving Clark and Porter to work in tandem to cover Doubs and Kraft in a stack alignment.

Doubs went vertical and once again, the Steelers were indecisive. Kraft cut inside and Porter was late getting to him.

Kraft caught the pass with plenty of space to run and finished in the end zone for his second touchdown.

NATIONAL TUCKER KRAFT DAY.

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— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2025

In the last two weeks, the Steelers have blitzed at the fifth-highest rate in the league (21.5 percent) and have given up 312 yards passing on blitzes (12.7 yards per play). The Bengals and Packers knew exactly how to attack them. Theoretically, they can get better if they clean up their communication, technique and execution. However, it’s a hard life to live in the NFL when offensive coordinators can draw up their fancy designs, knowing exactly what you’re going to be in. And this isn’t an isolated sample size; this has been an ongoing issue with Mike Tomlin-led teams. Their talent will take over some games, but they’re simply outclassed against top offenses.