Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers have started pressing the big red panic button despite starting the season with a 1-1 record. While the offense seems to be improved, the defense has fallen off of a cliff entirely, and nearly every stat that pops up makes everything look worse. There is already a sense of urgency to make changes, because there is no way that this team can achieve their goals of winning a playoff game with a unit that continues to break down like this on a weekly basis.
Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Teryl Austin on the sidelines during a win over the New York Jets in 2025.
Out of all the stats that have come out, this one may be the most damning against the Steelers: According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Steelers went from having the second-lowest missed tackle rate in 2024, to the highest in 2025, as the number jumped from 10.7% to 18.2%
Telling insight from @NextGenStats on the Steelers defense -- a year ago, Steelers recorded the second-lowest missed tackle rate. Through two games, they're missing tackles at a league-high rate of 18.2%. pic.twitter.com/qDRFqekhAR
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 17, 2025
On average, almost one in every five defensive/special teams plays results in a Steelers defender getting the chance to bring the ball-carrier down and failing to do so. While it's still early in the season, this should be sounding off alarms all over the building, as the team prides itself on doing "the routine things routinely." This staggering stat is anything but routine.
Ron Schwane / Associated Press
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin stands on the sidelines during a regular season matchup on the road against the Cleveland Browns.
Sometimes in practice, you need to go back to the fundamentals. In Week 3's practices, the Steelers should definitely put an emphasis on basic tackling drills just to get every back into the habit of doing the right things in the right form. You can't expect to win games when you give up an average of 80 yards after missed tackles per game, especially with the resurgence of the running back position across the league.
What makes that stat even worse is the offseason moves made to shore up the defense. While the Steelers did not trade Minkah Fitzpatrick away in exchange for Jalen Ramsey for tackling reasons, bringing in a player who has historically been a sounder tackler was definitely an upside of the deal, especially in the run game. That impact has not been felt at all so far.
The defensive line was also overhauled to help out with this endeavor. The wild thing is that even though Derrick Harmon has been out due to injury, the rotating chorus of depth pieces at DE has not been the problem. Edge rusher Nick Herbig and defensive captain Cameron Heyward have been specifically targeted in the run game, and it has resulted in numerous chunk plays on the ground for opposing offenses.
Jared Wickerham / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Cameron Heyward gets ready for a play against the Ravens in Week 16 of the 2024 season.
To replace Fitzpatrick, the Steelers brought in a pair of thumpers in Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark to help out in both the pass and run defense. So far, their impact has not been felt at all either. It hurts that DeShon Elliott is out with injury, but that should not have that much of an impact on the inability to tackle, especially with Thornhill already missing three of them so far in the first two weeks.
Steelers' Great 2024 Rookie Is Showing Signs Of Stagnation
After an electric rookie season, Payton Wilson looked to be the speedy, all-around linebacker that the Steelers have sorely missed since Ryan Shazier. However, his second year has started off poorly. He is part of the problem with the tackling issue, as he already has four missed tackles and a 22.1% rate in that regard. In comparison, he had 7 missed tackles in all of 2024 at a rate of 8.2%. All in all, the whole defense needs to get its act together.
What do you think about the Steelers' sudden inability to tackle properly? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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