Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Explains Mediocre Defensive Performance Vs Jets

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened the 2025 season with a thrilling 34-32 road win over the New York Jets. The offense impressed, fueled by Aaron Rodgers’ four touchdown passes. DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin shined, while Ben Skowronek scored his first touchdown as a Steeler. Despite the positives, there were plenty of negatives that stuck out as well. It's no secret that in order for the Steelers to continue to be successful, they must improve in some aspects, and that is exactly what Head Coach Mike Tomlin told the media on Tuesday. 

In his weekly Tuesday press conference, Tomlin recapped the thrilling win against the Jets, and looked ahead to this week's matchup with the Seattle Seahawks. 

"We met as a team and we looked at the Jets game. Certainly a lot to learn," said Tomlin. "I'm thankful we did enough to win the game, but there were certainly things indicative of Week 1 football."

That pretty much sums up Pittsburgh's Week 1 performance. The Steelers looked like a team still figuring things out, which is normal in an opener, but at the same time, they were able to comeback from multiple two-score deficits and win the game. That hasn’t always been the case in recent years. This was only the third time since 2017 that the Steelers gave up 32 or more points and still came away with a win. Usually, when the defense gives up that many, the game is lost.

Speaking of defense, that’s where most of the concerns came from on Sunday. For a unit that entered the season as the highest paid defense in the entire NFL, they didn’t exactly look like money well spent against the Jets. Giving up 32 points is rough on its own, but it was also the way they allowed nearly 400 yards of total offense that stood out. Justin Fields looked like his old Ohio State self, slinging the ball all over the field while adding two rushing touchdowns. Breece Hall gashed the Steelers' defense en route to over 100 yards on the ground. Granted, Hall is widely considered one of the best running backs in the league, but Pittsburgh almost made it look too easy for him. 

Of course, injuries didn’t help. Derrick Harmon, Pittsburgh's first-round pick out of Oregon, didn’t play after tweaking his knee in the final preseason game. Veteran safety DeShon Elliott left Sunday's game with a knee injury, leaving the secondary even thinner. When you’re already working with new pieces and suddenly guys are dropping, it’s tough to keep things organized. Tomlin even admitted communication was an issue, and that’s not surprising with so many new faces getting real snaps together for the first time.

"We lacked in some fundamentals and communication and other things that can cause you to play less than stellar at this point of the season," Tomlin explained.

Early-season miscommunication is almost expected, especially for a defense that added so many new players over the offseason. Jalen Ramsey, Yahya Black, Malik Harrison, Chuck Clark, Juan Thornhill, Daniel Ekuale, and Darius Slay were all brought in via draft, trade, or free agency in 2025. That’s a lot of moving parts to try and mesh right away, and when they didn’t have much preseason game time together either, it’s no wonder things looked a little sloppy.

Steelers Defense Has Lots Of Time To Get Things Figured Out

The good news for the Steelers is that it's a long season, and all of these issues are fixable. They’ve got a future Hall of Famer at quarterback in Rodgers who can cover up mistakes, weapons on offense that are already clicking, and a defense full of proven talent that just needs to clean things up. A road win to open the season is never easy, and if they can learn from the mistakes they made against the Jets, Week 1 could end up being the type of game that toughens them up for the long run.

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