Mike Tomlin Tears Apart Steelers' Defense After Poor Showing Against Texans In The Playoffs

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered another embarrassing loss in the playoffs to end the 2025 season as the group fell to the Houston Texans on Monday night. Pittsburgh was blown out yet again as the team lost by a score of 30-6, but the Texans didn't start piling onto the scoreboard until the fourth quarter. The Steelers' defense was able to keep the team in the game for the majority of the night, but things fell apart as the game went on and the Steelers could not move the football on offense. It was a terrible game for the Steelers, and it could be the last one that Head Coach Mike Tomlin was on the sidelines for.

A ton of things went wrong for the Steelers during the loss to the Texans, but the bulk of the blame should fall on the offense. Pittsburgh could only muster up six points, and the Texans were able to score two defensive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. 

It was an embarrassing offensive performance, and it was one that will spark many questions as the offseason begins. Despite the poor offensive showing, Tomlin put some of the blame on his defense as he was asked what went wrong during his postgame press conference.

"We didn't get off enough on third down," Tomlin said. "It became an attrition component to it as we entered the second half."

Tomlin blamed his defense for not playing well enough on critical downs, and that was a point of weakness throughout the game for the Pittsburgh defense. This allowed the Texans to extend drives and put more points on the board, and it also kept Pittsburgh's offense off of the field. 

Tomlin has a point as Houston was able to convert on 10 of their 15 third down attempts. The Texans did not have to punt often, but Pittsburgh's defense did step up at certain points to take the ball away from the Texans' offense. Both Jack Sawyer and Keeanu Benton accounted for strip sacks in the contest, while Yahya Black and TJ Watt recovered those fumbles. 

Brandin Echols also recorded an interception in the second half. The defense could have done more to get Houston's offense off of the field, but the group also gave the offense several opportunities by taking the ball away.

The defense certainly deserves some blame as Tomlin pointed out, but his offense just had to do more in this game. Houston's defense is stout, but there were opportunities to make plays and the offense did not take advantage of it. Pittsburgh was just two for 14 on their third down attempts, and in a lot of ways, that discrepancy was the difference in the game.

The game was a disaster and blame deserves to be thrown in every direction. Football is about playing complementary football, and the Steelers could not find a way to do that on Monday night.

Steelers Must Figure Out Offensive Approach Moving Forward

Pittsburgh's defense was an issue at points in the loss, but the glaring red flag comes on the offensive side of the ball. The group is very inconsistent and often stagnant. Moving the ball down the field seems impossible sometimes, and it is always going to be hard to win games in the NFL when that is the case. 

The franchise has Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith under contract for one more season, and some fans are going to want to see the team move in a different direction. His future should be in jeopardy, while Tomlin is also expected to be making a decision on his future with the team. It is unlikely that Smith will be fired as Pittsburgh does not like to move on from assistants before their contracts are up.

What did you think about Tomlin's comments on the defense? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation