The Pittsburgh Steelers’ run defense stinks.

Many times this year, that statement has been true. Like over the first three weeks of the season, when it yielded a combined 418 yards to the New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.

Or when Cincinnati’s Chase Brown raced to 108 and 99 yards in his two games against them — his top two totals of the year through the first 10 weeks.

Or when Kimani Vidal put up 95 yards in Los Angeles without Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater and Bobby Hart available at tackle.

Or when the Buffalo Bills gashed them for 249 yards at Acrisure Stadium last week.

James Cook brought the juice in Week 13 ???? pic.twitter.com/KXvTn00IFU

— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2025

That’s enough evidence to make a strong case to defend my opening thesis statement.

Then again, this is the same unit that held NFL rushing leader Jonathan Taylor to 45 yards and the vaunted Chicago Bears’ rushing attack (153.8 yards per game, No. 2 in the NFL) to just 99.

“You have to look at each one of those things individually, the plans, the players available to us, the schematics of those that we compete against,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday.

“At this point in the year, (there is) some evidence of who you are and evidence of who your opponents are, but from a strategy standpoint, you’d better start at ground zero. You’d better build, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing today and this week in an effort to put out a better performance.”

A few of those variables Tomlin referenced are in play Sunday. First of all, on the injury front, Derrick Harmon is out again with a knee ailment. The rookie defensive lineman appeared to be a big reason why the run defense got better after his first game in Week 3.

While he has been on the field for some of those poor outings referenced above, he was also instrumental in the good ones, and noticeable by his absence Sunday versus the Bills.

His 6-foot-4, 313-pound frame sure would be a welcome presence against the Baltimore Ravens this week.

Another X-factor has been the opponent. This week, with Baltimore on the horizon, that variable is massive.

It was Baltimore that expedited Pittsburgh’s spiral into a rush-defense identity crisis when it posted a whopping 643 yards over three games against the Steelers in 2024-25.

“We’re talking about a legendary runner of this generation in Derrick Henry. We’re talking about some schematics and some personnel that really highlight that agenda,” Tomlin said of Baltimore’s run-heavy approach.

MR. DERRICK HENRY!!!!!!!!!!

Tune in on Prime!! pic.twitter.com/YDZs4YK3wB

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 12, 2025

“When he starts ‘bumper-carring’ and bouncing off of people, you want to eliminate that component of his game.”

Granted, the Ravens’ rush attack has been slowed by Lamar Jackson’s injury concerns at quarterback. The former MVP has exceeded 50 rushing yards in a game just once this year, and that’s when he posted 70 against the Bills in Week 1. Henry has exceeded 75 rushing yards just once since Halloween.

But the Baltimore ground assault is still very much a threat to the Steelers’ up-and-down rush defense, especially since it operates in an inverse manner to the one the Steelers just faced from Buffalo.

With the Bills, it was running back James Cook who provided the outside running threat with quarterback Josh Allen posing an option between the tackles. On Tuesday, conversely, Tomlin broke down how Jackson is the outside concern for Baltimore, while it’s Henry who presents a problem on the interior.

“Lamar is more on the perimeter because of his talents, his elusiveness, his speed. Josh Allen is more downhill because of his talents. He’s big. He’s strong,” Tomlin said.

“Cook is elusive and perimeter capable. Although Derrick has great speed — when he gets into the secondary, it is a problem — you want to work hard to minimize his downhill because when he gets downhill on you, you really feel it.”

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Regardless of how the Ravens try to do it, the Steelers are going to have to adjust — something that hasn’t necessarily been a strong suit of theirs when seeing effective ground attacks.

As noted by T.J. Watt, the Bills kept running the same thing over and over again, and the Steelers couldn’t stop it.

As noted by Payton Wilson, they knew what plays were coming from Buffalo, and the Steelers couldn’t stop them.

That said, Tomlin insists the Steelers have learned from last year’s defensive failures on the ground against the Ravens.

“Just how you play apex players — the guys that are halfway between the corridor defense and the perimeter,” Tomlin said. “Some of the things you do around secondary rotation and so forth. I think any time you play there’s an educational process.”

A lot of Tomlin’s press conference Tuesday was about confidence. Confidence in why things that may not have worked over the past 17 Steelers games (in which the club is 6-11) will start to turn around.

“It’s no different than what you (media members) do,” Tomlin said. “You might write a bad article or a couple of bad articles. Does it lessen your confidence in your ability to write articles the next time? I imagine it doesn’t because you’ve been doing it all your adult lives. It’s the same for us as individuals or (a) collective in this business. Certainly, our last performance wasn’t up to snuff, but I don’t know that it lessens our belief in self or ability to deliver individually and collectively.”

Well, I’m not necessarily confident that this article is any good, but I am confident that it highlights the biggest issue facing the Steelers on Sunday.

How do they prevent a game against the Ravens from turning into Buffalo 2.0 on the ground?

I’m also confident in saying the Steelers need to win at least one of their two games against the Ravens — if not both — to have any shot at the playoffs.

So whatever adjustments Tomlin and coordinator Teryl Austin are making, they better work in a big way.

I wish I could express similar confidence that they will.

Listen: Tim Benz and Joe Rutter discuss Mike Tomlin’s press conference in advance of their hug game in Baltimore

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