Steelers' Cameron Heyward Acknowledges Defense Simply Wasn't Good Enough

The Pittsburgh Steelers have done what they have been known for as of late: playing terrible in the playoffs after a late-season collapse. This time, they went down 21-0 at halftime to the Baltimore Ravens, only to lose 28-14. That came after a four-game losing streak to end the regular season that took them out of the division race. Pittsburgh needs to change something quickly if it wants to be anything more than a doormat for the rest of the AFC come January. 

During his post-game press conference, defensive captain Cameron Heyward spoke about the problems with his unit. He even considers the talent around him to be Super Bowl-caliber.

"I love playing with every guy on this roster right now," Heyward said. "A good defense is going to win the championship this year, and I think we have pieces to do that, but we have to step up in the playoffs. You put in all that work to grind and get to the playoffs, but there are a lot of things we got to clean up."

There have not been many questions about the talent of the Steelers' defense. However, it has been playing poorly since the bye week. The group has given up at least 24 points in all but two contests since its break, including the playoff game. In many of those games, it gave up yards at will as well. While the offense has not played great, the defensive side has been worse. 

When there are consistent failures like that from such a talented group, the attention usually turns towards the coaching. Head Coach Mike Tomlin is the man that runs the defense, as that has been repeatedly confirmed multiple times. The question would be about what he does that is so wrong that results in the same outcome happening every year.

For starters, he never adjusts his game plan. It doesn't matter how good of a plan it is; it is never perfect, and opposing offenses will find the little imperfections and exploit them if they see it enough times on film and/or in person. The Steelers and Ravens know each other better than anyone, so Baltimore eventually found out how to break this supposedly stout unit.

That lack of adjusting also means that Tomlin sometimes plays directly into the strengths of his opponents. He runs a lot of zone defense, but it's a horrible idea to run that consistently when your opponent feasts on it. No good coach willingly allows the opposition to run what it wants to run throughout the entire game. 

The Steelers have been the joke of January for eight years now. The roster has almost changed entirely since then, as well as the coaching staff. They even had a new general manager take power in the middle of that stretch. These consistent failures point to the man that has run this team the whole time, and that is the head coach.

The six-game playoff losing streak is inexcusable. The regularly scheduled late-season collapses are inexcusable. The desire to run soft zone schemes is inexcusable, especially when the cornerback room is built around press coverage. Tomlin has repeatedly shown that he has no clue how to run a defense that works for the modern game.

Steelers Desperately Need To Take Power Away From Mike Tomlin

Tomlin routinely shows that he lacks any sort of self-awareness and would rather stay stubborn to his ideas than to adapt. The front office needs to address this with him. Mainly, he needs to hire coordinators that he trusts, as opposed to yes-men that won't ever challenge him.

If he doesn't trust defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, then he needs to fire him and hire someone that fits the Steelers' defensive scheme and can call plays well. He needs to do the same with the offense and stop meddling with them. If he refuses, then he needs to be shown the door.

What do you think about the defense underperforming throughout the 2024 season? Let us know in the comments.

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