Steelers' Defense Should Absolutely Improve After Mike Tomlin Calling Out "Manhood"

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have won their Week 1 game, but it did not stop concerns from being raised. The highest-paid defense gave up 32 points, 182 rushing yards, with three touchdowns coming from the ground game against a New York Jets offense that has struggled to take flight in recent years. Everyone on the team knows that that kind of performance is unacceptable.

In his recent mailbag on X, insider Mark Kaboly was asked about if that run defense can be fixed soon. He had a lot of faith that the future would be bright for Pittsburgh, especially in that category. Week 1 provided major doubts, but not panic.

"Not only is it fixable, but it will also be fixed this week," Kaboly said. "If I were a betting man, the Seahawks rush for less than 100 yards on Sunday. Tomlin called out their manhood on Tuesday, and something like that doesn’t go over well with professional athletes of the caliber that the Steelers have."

Head Coach Mike Tomlin was one of the men that was obviously frustrated with how things played out defensively. Even with Aaron Rodgers providing his style of quarterback play, it's unlikely this offense can score 30+ points on a consistent basis week-to-week. The defense still has to pull its weight. Sometimes, you have to go deep to get the best out of your players, and what Tomlin said during his press conference could be exactly what the team needed.

Tomlin spoke about the Steelers' lack of energy and conditioning defensively during the postgame press conference, as he explained that his players did not meet the expectations that were set previously.

"The game is not always going to go the way that you like," Tomlin said. "When you start measuring it in the midst of play, you do not have enough energy or gas to do what you suggested."

The idea is that Tomlin is publicly issuing a challenge to his players. That challenge is to meet the expectations and standards set and not get bullied at the line of scrimmage. Even with rookie Derrick Harmon missing time, it's concerning to see guys like Keeanu Benton and defensive captain Cameron Heyward get pushed around similar to how they did at the end of the 2024 season.

Steelers Spent 2025 Offseason Trying To Prevent This Exact Game Defensively

The Steelers had a monumental collapse at the end of the 2024 campaign, including another humiliating loss in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. The reasoning was that the defense could not get anything going and they constantly lost in the trenches. It doesn't matter how talented the Baltimore Ravens' rushing attack is; you can't give up almost 300 yards on the ground and not expect change. 

The Steelers responded to that failure by cutting Larry Ogunjobi, drafting Harmon and Yahya Black, and trading for Jalen Ramsey, who can be a great run stopper from the slot position. As mentioned before, the rookie did get injured in preseason, but he is also expected to miss Week 2, so Tomlin and his unit need to find a way to work around that.

Luckily, the Seattle Seahawks do not have a great running quarterback like the Jets do. They do have a pair of quality running backs, and they will take advantage of a weak defensive line if it allows them to. Kaboly's claim is a bold one, as the ground game is Seattle's strength, and holding them to 100 yards is no easy task. If they run for about the same as the Jets did, victory will be unlikely, and the panic button may be pressed across Pittsburgh.

What do you think about Kaboly saying that Tomlin's challenge will get through to his players? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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