The Pittsburgh Steelers entered Week 3 with some major questions on defense. After their 21-14 victory over the New England Patriots, a lot of those questions remain. They loaded up on splash plays with five turnovers and five sacks — including two from TJ Watt. However, they did not play fundamentally sound defense at all, and it resulted in them getting dangerously close to losing the game despite all of those big plays. The force is there, but the ability to do the routine things routinely is still a concern.
Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) during a regular season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 in Foxborough, MA.
During his postgame press conference, team captain Cameron Heyward was asked about his overall thoughts about his unit. He didn't go out of his way to bash them, but he knows that they have to do better.
"Just building. We are not a finished product," Heyward said. "We talk about not riding the roller coaster, win or loss. This is something we can continue to keep improving on, and I think it's great for our younger guys; it's even better for our older guys because we got a lot of work to do."
There is definitely a lot of improvement that needs to be made. You can't lose the yardage battle 369-203 and give up 10 first downs on possession-down situations and expect to win. They better become a finished product soon, or else the season will be very long and very underwhelming. They have a Week 5 bye to help them prepare for the long haul of the year.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin stands on the field and watches his team practice during a 2025 training camp workout at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
While the splash plays were just enough to win the game, it was not sustainable. You can't go into any game and expect the opponent to practically hand you the win on a silver platter like the Patriots' offense seemed to do. You can't expect to get turnovers when the opponent is inside your five-yard line twice in the same game. You have to be able to not allow the opposing offense to get there in the first place.
There are a bunch of moving parts in the defense. Derrick Harmon just made his NFL debut, so he will need some time to get up to speed and be the impact in the trenches that everyone knows he can be. There are also a lot of injuries in the secondary, so that unit is still working on gelling together as one piece of this puzzle. Hopefully, everything will solidify itself soon.
Steelers' Main Issues On Defense Still Remain
For starters, the defense has allowed over 100 rushing yards for the third week in a row. This time, however, it just lost contain on quarterback Drake Maye as he was able to make a lot of plays once he escaped the pocket. That combined with a couple quarterback sneaks led to him leading the team with 45 rushing yards. It seems like they got better in overall run defense, but another problem popped up with it.
Eric J. Adler / New England Patriots
Patriots' Drake Maye looks to throw during a win over the Miami Dolphins in 2025.
Another common theme of the Steelers is leaving the middle of the field wide open on possession downs, which directly coincides with the struggles in possession downs. Tight end Hunter Henry was able to take full advantage of that as part of his career day. He had eight receptions for 90 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including one on a fourth down attempt.
The Steelers talk about how it's better to fix these problems after a win, but if this keeps up, they won't have many wins to stack and learn from. They most likely will not have another five-turnover game defensively until at least 2026. They have to gel together and work on the fundamentals together. They may not be a finished product, but they better be close to finishing up.
What do you think about Heyward's comments on the defense? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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