Steelers' Teryl Austin Takes All The Blame For Massive Play That Nearly Changed Week 4 Entirely

The Pittsburgh Steelers got the win in Ireland against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4, even though they almost blew the game entirely. They had a nice 24-6 lead in the fourth quarter, but it quickly evaporated. A big part of that was receiver Jordan Addison getting wide open off of a broken coverage and taking that pass 81 yards within Pittsburgh's three-yard line. Payton Wilson broke a record for fastest sprint speed by a linebacker on that play to save the tackle and allow a lot more time to tick off the clock. 

During walkthroughs in the bye week after the game, Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin put the blame on himself for allowing that big pass to happen in the first place. 

What that essentially comes down to is communication. The defense that he and Head Coach Mike Tomlin run is one of the more complicated ones in the NFL. It may be too complicated, as these issues have been a massive problem since early on dating back to the 2024 season. The fact that they failed to fix the miscommunication problems is a big issue, and it can hurt the team in the long run. 

It was obvious that at least one player did not know his assignment. Three defensive backs just sat in their zones and never followed Addison down the sideline. Wilson's historic sprint speed may have saved the game after the other three players could do nothing but watch as the receiver took off for a dead sprint to the end zone to try and continue the potential comeback. 

On the film review, it's hard to tell exactly who was supposed to be covering Addison on the play. The best guess is safety Chuck Clark, as it was a soft zone play, so the deep safety would likely end up running with the wideout going deep. Either way, somebody did not understand what was supposed to happen on the play, and it almost ended in complete disaster for the Steelers.

A big issue with these complicated plays is that the Steelers' defense sees a high level of turnover; so many of the defensive backs and linebackers don't get a lot of time to learn the playbook. Clark and Darius Slay, who was also part of the broken coverage, signed one-year deals in the 2025 offseason, so they are likely still not completely familiar with how everything is supposed to go on the backend of Pittsburgh's complex defense.

That attrition that Austin was talking about was injuries. Both Jalen Ramsey and Brandin Echols were on the sideline and Slay had been on and off the field as well with his own issues. The cornerback room was wiped out completely, and it showed on film with safety DeShon Elliott lining up as the slot corner. That means the two deep safeties were Clark and Juan Thornhill, both of whom were not on the team in 2024. 

The Steelers vowed to fix the communication issues with a simpler scheme, but that has not been the case so far. Despite being 3-1, the defense still seems to have constant breakdowns in the passing game, leading to receivers being wide open regularly. If the scheme and plays are so complicated that numerous Pro Bowlers, All-Pros, and long-time veterans keep getting confused, the coaches need to change something up.

Steelers Likely Won't Address The Real Problem

While Austin may have called the play and taken the blame for that particular moment failing, there is confirmation nearly every week that this is not his defense. Tomlin is reportedly the one that leads with the development and scheme of the defensive gameplan. These complicated zone schemes might very well belong to the head coach, just like they have since the mid 2010s.

What do you think about Austin taking the blame for that 81-yard pass to Addison in the fourth quarter? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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