The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their first game of the season to the Indianapolis Colts during Week 4. As Head Coach Mike Tomlin likes to say, "There are no moral victories." Most felt that they saw many good things from quarterback Justin Fields. The offense wasn't perfect, but they continued to fight. The Steelers' defense on the other hand, seemed anemic.
You expect better from one of the top-rated and highest-paid defenses in the league. Yet the Colts scored 17 unanswered points to start the game. It was Pittsburgh's worst performance of the season, with their defensive unit making numerous mistakes.
Christopher Carter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was on the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show with Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson. They asked him about the defense and the team's biggest issue. Carter said it boiled down to breakdowns in communication.
"The big plays that the Steelers gave up were purely because of miscommunications, guys being in the wrong spots at the wrong time," said Carter. "The first touchdown Joey Porter Jr. is running with the guy Beanie Bishop's running with and as soon as the touchdown's scored, Josh Downs is in the end zone, Patrick Queen is looking at him like where were you going?"
After the loss to the Colts, Patrick Queen, who wears the green dot on defense, received a lot of criticism. He took full responsibility, telling the media that the communication issues were on him. He said he had to do a better job getting the plays out. Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin said he doesn't deserve to shoulder the burden of those mistakes alone.
Carter said that Joey Porter Jr.'s coverage mistake could be seen all over the field. He noted that Beanie Bishop Jr. was playing man at one point while everyone else was in cover two. Queen could be seen trying to get the players where they needed to be. Carter noted that he spoke with Tomlin about the fact that the Steelers are the number eight passing defense, but are giving up the fifth most passing yards across the middle. Tomlin told him the defense is designed that way; it's that bend, don't break concept.
"To his point, when I looked it up, if the two blown coverages don't happen, the statistics that the Colts would have had through the air would have been almost identical to what the Chargers, Broncos, and Falcons did, and they wouldn't have had two touchdowns. And if Joey Porter Jr. doesn't drop an interception in the end zone, they also keep their average of one interception per game going. They're basing it on, can this defense consistently be in the right spots? They were for three games. In this game, they broke down. Mike Tomlin and this team are going to gamble that that's not going to happen often enough to sink them. What's going to tell this season is if they are right in that gamble."
The Steelers will face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football for Week 5. The Cowboys are banged up, but so are the Steelers. This defense has a big opportunity to show the world they are better than what they presented in Indy.
Steelers Are Still In The Mix
At the start of the season, most analysts felt that all Pittsburgh had going for them was their powerful defense. However, now Fields has shown improvement each week. He is even performing better than Patrick Mahomes through his first four games.
If the Steelers' defense can clean up its mistakes and the offensive line can stay healthy, then they have a real shot at making the playoffs. After all, they managed to make the playoffs at the end of the 2023 season with a much worse quarterback room.
