Steelers' Big Changes "Seemed To Pay Off Immediately" In Week 3 Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers still have a ton of defensive concerns after just three weeks of regular season play in 2025. Despite racking up five takeaways in their Week 3 victory against the New England Patriots, they still almost managed to blow the game entirely after losing the yardage battle 369-203, among almost every other major stat. In a game like that, it should not come down to a final fourth down play within the final two minutes of the contest. In the end, they got their win, and now it's time to make sure that they don't need a historical takeaway margin to barely beat any other team. 

However, there was one massive improvement made in this game defensively: the run defense. While the Steelers did allow over 100 rushing yards, a large chunk of those came from quarterback scrambles, as Drake Maye led the team in rushing with seven carries for 45 yards. Everyone else had 22 carries for 75 yards and three fumbles. Even without the turnovers, that is a great sign for the defense. During his weekly Q&A chat, insider Brian Batko explained how the run defense turned around after two horrible weeks.

"Yeah, I'd say it was their best job against the run so far," Batko said. "Breece Hall and Kenneth Walker looked like Barry Sanders, so they really had nowhere to go but up. To be fair, credit the coaches for making personnel changes on defense that seemed to pay off immediately. Cole Holcomb and Jabrill Peppers were the main ones."

There were a lot of concerns surrounding guys like Payton Wilson and Juan Thornhill in the run game. Head Coach Mike Tomlin promised personnel changes for the run defense, and he delivered. It looks like the Steelers have found a system that works well in the run game. They just need to figure it out for the pass defense now. 

As Batko points out on X, Cole Holcomb and Jabrill Peppers saw a massive increase in snap counts in Week 3. Holcomb played 50% of the defensive snaps while Peppers played 58%. Meanwhile, Wilson dropped to 47% of the snaps with Thornhill dropping to just 39%. That is a massive change, especially at the safety position. It worked, so it's safe to say that these trends will continue for the foreseeable future. 

Holcomb had a forced fumble and six tackles during the game, as he made his presence known within three yards of the line of scrimmage on run plays. Meanwhile, Peppers had six tackles, a forced fumble as well, and a fumble recovery. On a total of 29 rushes including Maye, that is 12 tackles made. That is much better than what they got from Wilson and Thornhill in the previous weeks. 

There are definitely more changes to be made, as the defense bent too much in other situations, but at the very least, that is one concern out the window entirely. Even though everyone is running away from TJ Watt, the Steelers have found a way to shut that down as well. Hopefully, they can fix another problem in Week 4. Then, they can start trying to make a case for being some sort of threat in the AFC.

Steelers Have Other Consistent Issues

It seems like the Steelers keep having communication issues in the passing game on defense, as there were more instances of players looking at each other confused in Week 3. There is also the issue of constantly leaving players wide open in the middle of the field, especially on possession downs. 

What do you think about Holcomb and Peppers fixing the run defense? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB. 

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