Let’s take a look at the reality of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense.

Not the myth. The myth holds that the defense is elite. It’s not.

It’s predictable.

As Cincinnati wideout Ja’Marr Chase said after he, the Bengals offense and 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco dropped 33 points on the Steelers on Thursday: “They did exactly what we were expecting and hoping they’d do.”

“Expecting” is an insult.

“Hoping” is worse.

It doesn’t sound like the Bengals were scared of the Steelers defense.

Nobody is.

It’s soft, plays passively and is built around a bunch of old, fading guys. Like T.J. Watt, 31, and Cam Heyward, 36.

The Steelers kept Watt and Heyward too long, at the prices they’re paid, anyway. Especially Watt. He signed a new deal that pays him $41 million annually.

But in six games this season, Watt has played very well in two, been meh in two and been invisible in two.

That’s not proper value for money. Nick Herbig has more sacks than Watt, and he’s a backup making $1.03 million.

Yeah, J.J., we know: T.J. gets chipped, double-teamed, triple-teamed, quadruple-teamed, hog-tied, bound and gagged, tasered, tranquilizer dart, whatever.

Doesn’t matter. For that salary, you have to deliver.

It would have been better to make T.J. play out the final year of his existing deal, then franchise as needed beyond that.

Sure, T.J. would have been mad. So what? When you’ve never won a playoff game, maybe you deserve some unpleasant moments.

As for Heyward, he just kind of shows up. He’s OK. Sometimes he bats down a pass. He has 1½ sacks, so he won’t reach his okey-doke bonuses.

Give ’em my regards at the thrift store, Cam. How’s a man supposed to feed his family on a mere $14.75 million?

It’s easy to make fun. Not enough do.

This is an odd era of Steelers football: Players who help the team achieve zilch are nonetheless revered.

You wear their jerseys, brag about their individual accomplishments and doggedly defend sporadic criticism. Better than they defended against Cincinnati.

I don’t know how many times Joe Greene made first-team All-Pro. I only know he won four Super Bowls. That’s all I need to know. That’s all Greene wants me to know.

For a while, I thought Jalen Ramsey was making a legit difference. That was until Chase torched him like Ramsey was soaked in gasoline.

The Steelers kept backing up. They were terrified of giving up big plays, so they let Chase catch 16 balls instead. (That’s typical: The Steelers have given up 282.3 yards passing per game, most in the NFL. But foes throw deep vs. the Steelers just 6.3% of the time, lowest in the league. The Steelers defend long by utterly giving away underneath.)

Fox Sports’ Emmanuel Acho said that “Mike Tomlin is too great a defensive mind to allow this to happen.”

No, he’s not. Tomlin is a fraud just like his defense. A myth.

But at least Acho got one thing right: The Steelers defense isn’t run by coordinator Teryl Austin. Austin is Tomlin’s lackey. Tomlin is the brains, so to speak.

Tomlin becoming frantic at his media gathering because Cleveland traded Flacco to Cincinnati was embarrassing. Tomlin’s fear of a 40-year-old quarterback was palpable.

Then Flacco made Tomlin live in that fear.

If you want to crunch numbers, the Steelers defense — the NFL’s highest-paid, don’t forget — ranks 28th in yards per game at 374.7, 19th in points allowed per game at 23.3.

It’s not elite.

None of its players — not a single one — is currently playing at an elite level.

The Steelers are 4-2 when they needed to be 5-1. They’re headed right back to the mushy middle. (Maybe they win the AFC North by default.)

Despite all the personnel changes, things are still incredibly stale.

How’s that happen?

You know how.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)