Are changes the Steelers made enough for defense to be 'historic'?

Numbers in the NFL can deceive. The Pittsburgh Steelers defense last season served as a prime example of such deception.

The final ranking showed that the Steelers defense finished eighth in points allowed — it represented a third consecutive top-10 finish — and No. 12 in yards.

But anyone who watched the Steelers play down the stretch knew that finish provided a distorted version of reality. In the final six weeks, the Steelers yielded an average of 27 points and 366 yards, which each would have ranked No. 29 over a full season.

And it was unsettling for any member of Steeler Nation to watch the defense get shredded for 28 points and 464 yards, including 299 on the ground, in a playoff loss at Baltimore that represented a fifth consecutive loss to close the season.

“Everybody understands what happened last year,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said. “We don’t want to repeat that.”

Coach Mike Tomlin said he knew before he was done showering that night in Baltimore that changes needed to be made. He wasn’t alone in that assessment.

“We need to improve the physicality of our team,” assistant general manager Andy Weidl said in August. “We all saw how the season ended last year. We had to get stronger up front. We had to get bigger up front and infuse youth. … We want to be big, physical, smash the run, rush and cover and get the defense off the field and get the ball back to the offense.”

Changes just didn’t take place in the draft with the Steelers using their first-round pick on Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon and a fifth-rounder on Iowa’s Yahya Black. They also reshaped the back end of the defense, signing cornerback Darius Slay and safety Juan Thornhill in free agency before making a blockbuster trade with Miami that brought aboard All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

The makeover was enough for Tomlin to uncharacteristically make a public statement that he expected “historic” things from his defense.

“We gotta write that story, but we’ve got enough talent, we’ve got enough schematics to do big, big things,” Tomlin said during an appearance on WDVE. “And when I saw big things, I’m talking about historic things.”

The last time the Steelers had a history-making defense was when the franchise made two Super Bowl appearances under Tomlin early in his Steelers tenure. From 2007-11, the Steelers finished first in points allowed three times and second once. They yielded the fewest yards three times and finished in the top five two other times.

Of course, those Steelers were led by Troy Polamalu and James Harrison while also featuring James Farrior, Larry Foote, Lawrence Timmons, Ike Taylor, LaMarr Woodley, Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel.

The Steelers haven’t finished with the NFL’s top-ranked defense in points or yards allowed since 2012, coming closest in 2020 when they were third in both categories.

But with the offseason additions joining a group that includes Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Queen, DeShon Elliott and Joey Porter Jr., Tomlin has his sights set high for 2025.

“I wasn’t talking specifics,” he said. “I was just talking about the ingredients I’m looking at. Obviously, there’s a lot of ground between now and then and effort and work. … I wasn’t trying to make any bold predictions, certainly. I wasn’t trying to outline what that might be in any level of detail. It’s just too much work in front of us to do that.

“What I meant by it is, I like our collection of talent. I like our development of schematics to this point in the journey. It feels really good.”

Health and age also will play a factor in how high the Steelers defense ascends this year. Harmon will miss the start of the season because of a knee sprain, and Highsmith sat out the entire preseason with a groin injury that is reminiscent of the one he suffered last season. Heyward, Watt, Slay and Ramsey all are at least 30.

With age comes experience, and the Steelers defense has that in spades. Watt is a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner and an annual contender for the award. Heyward is coming off his fourth All-Pro selection. Ramsey is a three-time All-Pro pick, and Slay has appeared on the list once. Queen has played in a Pro Bowl.

“It’s one of the best groups we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Highsmith, who joined the Steelers in 2020. “We’ve got a lot of good ballplayers on this defense, a lot of guys that have been All-Pros and made plays in this league. Every position, we have depth, and that’s something we haven’t always had.”

Arguably the biggest change is up front where the Steelers have five newcomers on the line that was gouged by the Ravens in the playoffs. The Steelers added free agent depth pieces in Daniel Ekuale and Esezi Otomewo. Starter Keeanu Benton is in his third season, and Black is expected to move into the rotation because of Harmon’s injury. His ability to swat down passes, not to mention his sacks on back-to-back plays in the preseason finale, made Black one of the training camp standouts.

“We like the physicality we added up front,” Weidl said.

If the defensive line can plug the gaps in the running game and apply pressure to the quarterback on pass attempts, the second and third levels of the unit will be the beneficiaries. It will allow Watt and Highsmith to chase the quarterback and provide time for the secondary to lock onto receivers.

“Anytime they can give us an extra half-second or tenth of a second, it’s going to be huge for us,” Watt said. “Anytime we can affect the quarterback, it’s going to be huge for (the secondary). It works together.”

Watt is optimistic the sack becomes a bigger part of the Steelers defense. After leading the NFL from 2017-21, the Steelers have finished outside the top five in each of the past three seasons.

“I think we can be better,” Watt said. “Splash is always on our minds. We talk about splash every week, whether it’s sacks, TFLs, tipped passes, picks — anything we can do to affect their offense and deliver the ball for our offense.”

In the middle of the defense, Queen is entering his second year in the system, and he’ll be paired with Payton Wilson, whose speed and coverage ability stood out in his rookie season. They will be backed up by Cole Holcomb, who returns after missing the past 18 months with a knee injury.

The Steelers lost All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami in the Ramsey trade. Filling his spot will be Elliott, who had 108 tackles in his first season with the Steelers and received a contract extension in the summer. Thornhill earned a Super Bowl ring with Kansas City and has appeared in 10 career postseason games.

“They are bringing in the right pieces,” Thornhill said. “They’ve got DBs all over the place. The front is amazing, the linebackers are great. I feel like we have the pieces of the puzzle. Now, it’s up to us to put it together.”

The depth in the secondary is such that Thornhill likely won’t start for the Steelers, who plan to use a three-cornerback scheme that puts Ramsey, Slay and Porter on the field at the same time. Chuck Clark, another safety with 75 career NFL starts, also will come off the bench.

The Steelers again will field the NFL’s highest-paid defense, marking the fourth consecutive year they will hold that designation. The question is whether that investment will pay off at the end of the season. After all, the Steelers have yielded an average of 38 points a game in the six consecutive postseason defeats dating to the 2016 season.

“I just think we have to be better and more consistent more often,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “I think we’ll have a couple weeks or so where we’re not playing up to our standard, and we have to get those out of our system. We have to play well for all 17 (games) … to give an opportunity to be a top defense. That’s always our goal … we want to be the best in the league. Until we get there, we’re going to continue to work at it.”