Steelers' Mike Tomlin Distraught With Defensive Effort

The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Chicago Bears on Sunday by a final score of 31-28, dropping Pittsburgh's record to 6-5 and moving the Steelers to second place in the AFC North. It wasn't necessarily a poor performance from the Steelers on either side of the ball, but small mishaps throughout the contest mounted up in the end, giving the Bears their eighth victory in their last nine games. Despite out-gaining the Bears in total yards, the Pittsburgh defense allowed 31 points on 328 yards, leaving plenty left to be desired by Head Coach Mike Tomlin.

Even with the rough fourth quarter, the Steelers actually started the game with a pretty solid rhythm. Pittsburgh seemed confident and aggressive out of the gate, mixing the run and pass well and keeping Chicago’s defense honest. For a while, it looked like the Steelers had found a formula that worked.

Holding a 21-17 lead at the break, it felt like Pittsburgh had a real chance to steal a win on the road, but as has happened a few times in 2025, the second half told a very different story. The Bears slowly chipped away, outscoring Pittsburgh 14-7 after halftime and capitalizing on almost every mistake the Steelers made. Drives that looked promising stalled, and defensive stops that the Steelers absolutely needed just didn’t happen at the right time.

The defense had its moments, recovering two fumbles and even scoring a touchdown on one of them. Outside of those big plays, it was an inconsistent showing. Too often, the group failed to get off the field on third down, allowing the Bears to go 8-for-14 on third down. Missed tackles, miscommunications, and blown coverages showed up at the worst possible times, turning what could’ve been momentum-shifting stops into extended Chicago possessions.

During his postgame press conference, Tomlin spoke about his disappointment in the defensive unit.

"I thought our defense could've smiled in the face of adversity better," Tomlin said.

The Bears have been the best team in the NFL at forcing turnovers, and they took the ball away from the Pittsburgh offense twice. Mason Rudolph threw an interception on the Steelers' second play from scrimmage, and then later fumbled after a sack in the third quarter. Neither mistake was entirely on Rudolph alone, but both were costly, especially with the way the Bears were executing on offense.

Both turnovers came at points in the game where Pittsburgh really needed a clean possession. Instead, both times the Steelers turned the ball over, the Bears drove down and scored touchdowns. Those sequences ended up flipping the momentum and putting extra pressure on a Steelers defense that wasn’t playing its best.

"In the first half in particular I think we got stopped on fourth down, they scored a touchdown, we turned the ball over, they scored a touchdown," Tomlin said. "I think if we're going to be good, you gotta make people settle for field goals or less under those circumstances."

With a tough schedule still ahead, the Steelers will need to clean up those mistakes quickly if they want to stay in the playoff hunt.

Steelers' Defense Will Need To Play Much Better Moving Forward

The Steelers will have to move on from Sunday's loss given what lies ahead of them, the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens. With the Ravens taking the lead in the AFC North, every game from here on out feels like a must-win for the black and gold. 

With the Bills losing two of their last three games, they'll come into Acrisure Stadium looking for a moral-boosting win. Although Tomlin believes that quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be able to play, his availability will have a huge impact on Sunday's result. 

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