History with Eagles tells CB Darius Slay not to be alarmed by Steelers' slow start on defense

After two games, his team had a 1-1 record and allowed nearly 800 yards of offense that included 315 on the ground.

Darius Slay witnessed how the 2024 season turned out for the Philadelphia Eagles, which is why he’s not panicking over the way the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense has played through the first two weeks this year.

“I’ve been in this position before,” Slay said Wednesday. “I just came from there. The first four weeks we didn’t play as well as we needed to. The bye came up. We weren’t playing to the standard in Philly at the time. Right now, we’re not playing to our full potential yet, either.

“Next thing you know we ended up being the No. 1 defense and Super Bowl champion.”

Slay isn’t predicting the same result for the Steelers. He’s also not ready to give up on the season just because the defense has gotten off to a slow start.

The 2024 Eagles actually lost two of their first four games and gave up 33 points in a Week 4 loss to the New Orleans Saints that preceded their bye week.

Upon returning to work, the Eagles fixed their defensive problems. Philadelphia won 12 of its final 13 games of the regular season and four in a row in the playoffs en route to a Super Bowl championship over Kansas City. And, to Slay’s point, the defense finished first in the NFL in fewest yards allowed and ranked second in fewest points allowed.

“I have high hopes for this team as well,” Slay said. “Thankfully, it’s early, and we can all learn from our mistakes and continue to get better and keep building off each and every week and get better.”

The Steelers’ defense faces an uphill climb while dealing with injuries to nearly half of the unit’s starters. Defensive tackle Derrick Harmon could miss his third consecutive game, and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and strong safety DeShon Elliott are considered to be questionable to play Sunday when the Steelers face the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.

Two other starters — outside linebacker Alex Highsmith and defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk — have been ruled out with high ankle sprains.

The Steelers rank No. 29 in total yards (394 per game) and points (31.5) allowed. A year ago, the Eagles defense yielded an average of 399.5 yards and 25.5 points after two weeks.

Slay said the bye week was the turning point for the Eagles last year.

“We just had a good talk with each other as men, sat down and knew what our main goal was, and it was to win,” he said. “However they come, we had to win them. We know defense wins championships, and we wanted to make sure that’s what it was.”

The Eagles held 11 of their final 13 opponents to 20 points or fewer. Only three teams cracked 300 yards against Philadelphia after the bye week.

“This way over here, it’s the same,” said Slay, who joined the Steelers in free agency in March. “They believe in defense.”

Slay doesn’t see why the Steelers can’t make a similar type of defensive run. The defense is littered with former first-round draft picks, All-Pro and Pro Bowl players, from defensive tackle Cameron Heyward to outside linebacker T.J. Watt to corners Jalen Ramsey and Slay.

“It’s more want than anything,” he said. “Know your assignment, do the extra work after meetings, do what needs to be done. All these guys in here are professionals. They know their role and how they want to handle the situation by helping themselves out. We’re doing the best job we can in the building. Guys want to continue to meet after work. We’ll do that and get better.”

The secondary, though, featured five players in a 31-17 loss to Seattle last Sunday who weren’t on the Steelers roster a year ago. That will be the case again against the Patriots if Elliott and Porter aren’t cleared to return.

Coach Mike Tomlin thought communication was an issue on the back end of the defense. Slay expects that problem to be cleared up, too.

“Everything is a challenge,” he said. “It’s football. It’s a challenging game. All we can do is continue to work together. That is what practice is for. We keep building off each and every day and try to make everyone’s job easier.”

Linebacker Patrick Queen was in his second year in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens in 2021 when they split their first two games and allowed a combined 69 points and 896 yards. The Ravens didn’t enjoy the same fairy tale ending as the 2024 Eagles. Although the Ravens regrouped and had an 8-3 mark, they lost their final six games to finish with a losing record.

Still, Queen agrees with Slay that it’s too early to draw conclusions about the Steelers defense.

“Early starts don’t define your season,” he said. “Everybody wants to hit the panic button. It’s so simple. It’s the fundamentals, being physical, coming downhill, playing good football, being smart, being where you are supposed to be and not trying to do too much.”