The Pittsburgh Steelers have been chastised all week about how atrocious their defense has been lately. They have given up 68 combined points in their last two games, and they have an even tougher matchup on the docket to try and rebound from that in Week 9. There does not seem to be much that shows that they can slow down the Indianapolis Colts' dynamic offense at this point. If not, the losing streak will continue, and the fans will get angrier. The calls for people getting fired will only grow larger and louder.
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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.
However, these issues go beyond the defense. While making an appearance on Inside the NFL, former Steelers offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians spoke about the lack of attention to detail being a problem for the other side of the ball as well.
"The attention to detail isn't there even on offense," Arians said. "Aaron [Rodgers is] basically carrying that thing all by himself right now. The penalties are crazy, and that goes back to what [Ryan Clark] is talking about. It's not the preparation, I don't think, because they know how to prepare. It's just the execution is terrible."
In that Week 8 game against the Green Bay Packers, the Steelers had to settle for four field goals, with none of them coming in the red zone. Two of them came from 56 yards out, and another one came from 50. A garbage-time touchdown in the fourth quarter made the game closer than it actually was, as Pittsburgh's offense was nowhere near as good as the Packers' unit in that game, and it showed time and time again.
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Steelers' Aaron Rodgers with the offense during a loss to the Green Bay Packers at home in 2025.
The Steelers were the least penalized team in the NFL for almost a month. Lately, that has changed a bit. They had six accepted penalties for 65 yards against the Packers, one of which was receiver DK Metcalf putting his finger in an opponent's facemask for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That turned a very makeable 3rd and 2 into a near-impossible 3rd and 17.
The week before, the Steelers had seven accepted penalties for 59 yards. Their worst performance penalty-wise came in Dublin, when they had eight penalties for 82 yards, even though they had the game all but locked up early on before almost choking away a 24-6 lead. However, stats show that they are still the 5th-best team in terms of penalties against and penalty yards against, so it could definitely be worse for the boys in black and gold.
Steelers May Be Over-Relying On Specific Personnel Group
Lately, the Steelers have thrived off of their jumbo package on offense. However, that all changed when left guard Isaac Seumalo went down with a pectoral injury, and swing tackle Spencer Anderson had to fill in at his spot. Once that change happened against Green Bay, the offense completely fell apart. They went from scoring 16 points in the first half to just nine in the second half.
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Pittsburgh Steelers offensive guard Isaac Seumalo (73).
That's where the lack of attention to detail really shows. With their overpowered jumbo package, they could just bully the other team in the trenches and make life easy on the quarterback and running back. When you can't just push teams around like that, the little details need to be much finer, and every step means that much more. That is not the case currently with the Steelers.
The offensive line struggled to hold up without that sixth offensive lineman to help in Week 8, and the Steelers got off track from running the ball entirely. From there, the weaknesses of the team really showed up. Aaron Rodgers is 41 and can only do so much. He may still be a good quarterback, but he likely can't single-handedly carry a team to the postseason, let alone a playoff win.
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