There’s a moment in every struggling team’s season when something has to give. For the Pittsburgh Steelers defense in 2025, that moment came in Week 9—and what followed was nothing short of a complete transformation.
Worst Steelers Defense I’ve Seen
Let’s not sugarcoat it: through the first eight weeks of the season, the Steelers defense was bad. Not just underperforming—genuinely, historically bad for a franchise built on defensive excellence.
The numbers told a brutal story. Pittsburgh ranked 30th in total defense (386.0 yards per game), 22nd in scoring defense (25.0 points per game), and dead last—32nd—in passing yards allowed at 269.4 per game. They were hemorrhaging explosive plays at the third-highest rate in the NFL (12.5%), turning offenses into track meets.
But statistics only tell part of the story. Watch the tape from Weeks 7 and 8, and you’ll see a defense that had lost its identity. Back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and Green Bay exposed every flaw: zero sacks in both games, 14 missed tackles against the Bengals, and predictable coverage schemes that opposing coordinators exploited mercilessly. Ja’Marr Chase said it out loud: “They did exactly what we expected.” For a franchise that once defined defensive football—the Steel Curtain, Blitzburgh,—this was an identity crisis.
What Forced These Changes
Injuries forced the Steelers’ hand. When DeShon Elliott went down with a knee injury that landed him on IR, Pittsburgh had to act. On October 28, they acquired safety Kyle Dugger from New England for a 2026 sixth-round pick—a low-risk move that has paid immediate dividends.
But the bigger shock came in Week 9: head coach Mike Tomlin moved Jalen Ramsey, from outside cornerback, to free safety full-time. Ramsey had played only 47 snaps at safety before that game. Suddenly, he was playing 100% of his snaps there against Indianapolis. It was a bold gamble. Ramsey is a seven-time Pro Bowler at cornerback. Moving him to safety—a position he hadn’t played exclusively since his freshman year in college—seemed like desperation. But desperation breeds innovation.
Less Blitzing, More Success
The schematic changes were just as dramatic as the personnel moves. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin made a counterintuitive decision: stop blitzing so much.
Through Week 8, Pittsburgh’s blitz rate had skyrocketed to 46%—fourth-highest in the NFL. They were bringing five-man rushes at a 34.9% clip, the second-highest rate since 2015. They were blitzing on first and second down 22% of the time, second-most in the league.
And what did all that aggression produce? A meager 2.4 sacks per game, zero sacks in two straight losses, and the 29th-ranked hurry percentage at just 5.8%. They were sending bodies but generating nothing.
In Week 9 against the Colts, Austin dialed it back dramatically. The blitz rate dropped to 23.6%—the lowest of the season. Instead of sending extra rushers, they dropped more defenders into coverage. The Steelers deployed two-deep safety looks on 46.4% of dropbacks, a season-high.
The defensive line got a simple instruction: forget the play-fakes, rush the quarterback. Let your front four win, and let the secondary cover.
Turns out, less really was more.
Week 9: The Statement Game
The Colts entered the game as the NFL’s No. 1 offense (385.3 yards per game, 33.8 points per game). Jonathan Taylor was the league’s leading rusher. Quarterback Daniel Jones had been sacked just seven times in eight weeks.
Pittsburgh held Taylor to a season-low 45 yards on 3.2 yards per carry—and zero explosive runs for the first time all season. They sacked Jones five times and forced him into a nightmarish five-turnover performance: three interceptions and two lost fumbles. Jones matched his season interception total and doubled his fumble total in a single game.
The Steelers defense scored 24 points directly off turnovers. They held the Colts to just seven points through 3.5 quarters. Indianapolis managed only 55 total rushing yards on 19 carries (2.9 yards per attempt). “Best defensive performance of the season,” the headlines read. And it wasn’t close. The level of inconsistency outside of that game is mind boggling.
The New Safety Tandum: Dugger and Ramsey
Kyle Dugger wasted no time making his presence felt. In Week 11 against Cincinnati, he picked off Joe Flacco and took it 74 yards to the house—his first interception since Week 9 of 2023, his first as a Steeler, and a dagger that gave Pittsburgh a 20-9 lead.
Dugger brought exactly what Pittsburgh needed: physicality against the run, competent coverage against tight ends, and veteran instincts. In his first three games with the Steelers, he recorded 29 tackles and became a tone-setter.
Jalen Ramsey’s move to safety was even more transformative, though in a different way. Ramsey became the communication hub of the secondary—calling out coverages, diagnosing routes, providing the leadership that an injury-ravaged unit desperately needed.
In his first full game at safety against the Colts, Ramsey played 59 defensive snaps, allowed just three receptions on four targets for 28 yards, and orchestrated a defense that suddenly looked coherent. Aaron Rodgers later credited Ramsey’s leadership for the improved defensive performance.
Night & Day
The before-and-after numbers are staggering:
Before Week 9 (Weeks 1-8):
- 25.0 points per game allowed
- 46% blitz rate (by Week 8)
- Zero sacks in two straight losses
- 12.5% explosive play rate (3rd-worst in NFL)
- Zero turnovers forced in multiple losses
After Week 9 (Weeks 9-11):
- Approximately 13-16 points per game allowed
- 23.6% blitz rate
- Five sacks in Week 9, five more in Week 11
- Six turnovers forced in Week 9 alone
- Zero explosive runs allowed to the NFL’s leading rusher
The Steelers climbed from 30th to 28th in total defense and from 17th to 14th in rush defense. More importantly, they held three straight opponents under their season averages—including shutting down the league’s top-ranked offense.
Kyle Dugger postgame on CBS after win over Bengals #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/E8ZVImSUNQ
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) November 16, 2025
Since moving Ramsey to Safety (3 games vs IND, LAC, CIN) Steelers Defense ranks 2nd in Dropback EPA/play and 6th in overall EPA/play. Kyle Dugger is contributing as well. If ASJ can contribute at all this defesne could be very good down the stretch. pic.twitter.com/UkATPD1HVP
— CjKat (@NotCjKat) November 18, 2025
A New Identity Forged in Crisis
What makes this transformation remarkable isn’t just the statistical improvement—it’s the philosophical shift. Pittsburgh stopped trying to be something they weren’t. They stopped over-blitzing with a depleted secondary. Now, they are showing two-high safety looks, trusting their front four to generate pressure, and put their best communicator (Ramsey) in position to quarterback the defense.
They made a low-risk trade for a physical safety (Dugger) and asked a future Hall of Fame cornerback to reinvent himself, and he has embraced the challenge. The result? A defense that went from being called “atrocious” to shutting down elite offenses. From predictable to disguised. From passive to opportunistic. In a season where the Steelers’ championship hopes looked dead by Halloween, their defense found an identity just in time. Sometimes the best transformations come when you have no other choice.
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