The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off of a rough stretch of games as the team has lost two weeks in a row. The offense has been promising in the two contests, but the defense has been frustrating to watch. The organization has poured so many resources into that side of the ball and it has been a grave disappointment to see the way that the unit has played over the last two weeks. The coaching staff has taken a lot of heat for the performance that has been seen in recent games, and the group must find a way to turn things around in Week 9 before things get ugly.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin during a regular season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 in Foxborough, MA.
The Steelers have plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball, and the group should be playing much better than it is. There is clearly an issue with schematics and coaching, but the players on the field are also not executing. There is not one specific problem with the defense as it seems like there is a little bit of everything that is broken. Steelers super fan and Barstool Sports personality Jersey Jerry was speaking on his podcast Steel Here where he shared an interesting story from a former player about the state of the Pittsburgh defense.
"I was talking to a former Steelers player pregame, on Twitter, we were messaging back and forth," Jerry started. "We were talking a little bit before the game. I was like, 'What's your prediction?' He was like, 'It's probably going to be a route.' I was like, 'Really?' He said, 'Yeah man, there's a lot of guys on that defense that play for themselves.' I asked him what that means, he said, 'I'm not going to get into it, but there's a lot of guys on that defense that play for themselves and you'll find out tonight.' It's almost like this guy had the script."
Jerry did not get specific about which former player he was speaking with prior to the game, but it sounded like the player was on the team recently. It was someone who knows and played with the guys on the defense, which makes the statements even worse. All the talent on the unit does not mesh, and that is mainly because some of the guys are only playing for themselves and they aren't working together as a team.
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Patrick Queen makes a tackle against the Green Bay packers in 2025.
If this message from the former player is true, maybe the coaching staff deserves less hate than it is getting from the fan base. The Steelers gave up 454 total yards during their Week 8 loss to the Green Bay Packers, and the former player was right as Pittsburgh got completely embarrassed during the second half of the matchup after going into halftime with a nine-point lead.
It is unclear which players may be playing for themselves and not for the betterment of the team, but it is probably something that is evident on tape that can be seen by the amount of effort that is shown.
Steelers' Run Defense Likely Affected By Players' Motivations
If there are guys on the defense that are only playing for themselves, that is going to affect the run defense. The best defenses are able to stop the run by working as a cohesive unit. Each player needs to be in their gap, which is something Pittsburgh has struggled with. If players are abandoning their assignments to try to make plays, that is going to hurt the team as a whole and it shows with how easy it is for the opposing offenses to move the football.
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Steelers coaches Mike Tomlin (left), Karl Dunbar (middle) and Teryl Austin (right) stand on the sideline during a home game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh has to put an end to this throughout this next week ahead of the team's Week 9 matchup. The team is at risk of losing its third game in a row, which is something that cannot happen as the franchise needs to get back in the win column.
What do you think about this story from Jerry? Let us know in the comments below!
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