Mike Tomlin showered the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense with praise leading up to this season. He was confident the group would be able to do special, even “historic” things. Rather than being spectacular, the Steelers have been spectacularly bad on defense through the first two weeks of the season. In Week 1, the New York Jets punched them in the mouth. In Week 2, they allowed the Seattle Seahawks to do similar things, except this time the Steelers lost. This is following the Steelers’ rough defensive showing to end 2024. However, Patrick Queen doesn’t think they’re dealing with the same issues.
“Something different,” Queen said Sunday after the Steelers’ 31-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks via the team’s website. “I think when you got the stuff that we was getting last season, it was more schematic beaters that we were getting.
“We got all the details, I think we just got to go out there and execute them. It’s really that simple. When we got a play to make, we gotta make that play. When we supposed to be somewhere, we gotta be there.”
The Steelers’ defense made some solid plays against the Seahawks, including recording two interceptions. However, it was another ugly day overall. Seattle’s offense looked anemic last Sunday, which should’ve set the Steelers up to bounce back on defense this week. Instead, it was the Seahawks who righted themselves offensively.
Quarterback Sam Darnold wasn’t perfect, but he did enough to help the Seahawks win, throwing for 295 yards and two touchdowns. The Steelers were missing some starters in the secondary, but that’s no excuse. They allowed receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to go over 100 yards, with Cooper Kupp having 90 receiving yards as well.
Perhaps the most concerning part of the Steelers’ defensive performance was their inability to once again stop the ground game. Running back Kenneth Walker III had 13 carries for 105 yards and a game-clinching touchdown. After talking all week about how they felt confident that they had patched up their run defense, that was especially disappointing to see.
While the Steelers aren’t suffering from the same issues that plagued them defensively last year, the point still stands that they haven’t been good enough. Players continue to say the right things, but that hasn’t produced results. Now, that unit is also dealing with injuries to several key players, which likely won’t help matters. They’re going to face offenses better than the Seahawks’, so hopefully they can turn things around.
