The Pittsburgh Steelers put up a dud Thursday night. While their offense posted 31 points, their defense got punched in the mouth, allowing Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals beat them. It was an uninspiring effort. The Bengals’ offense has looked lost since losing Joe Burrow, but against the Steelers, it looked like The Greatest Show on Turf. James Harrison thinks that the Steelers will be in trouble going forward if their defense continues playing that poorly.
“With the 26th, 28th [ranked defense], we’re not gonna go nowhere,” Harrison said Friday on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “These offenses we’re gonna face in the next four, five weeks, they ain’t turning the rock over like that. They’re doing things more effective than anybody that we’ve played yet to date.
“If we come out there playing like we’ve been playing the last six, seven weeks, we’re gonna get the band struck up on us. We’re gonna get embarrassed. They’re gonna dog walk us. Drop your nuts. Put your foot in the ground. Stand for something. We can’t even bust a grape in a fruit fight right now. Right now, we trash. [Flacco] went out there and pulled a belt out on our ass. Put belt to ass.”
This isn’t the first time that the Steelers’ defense has looked that bad this season. That unit had similar issues in Week 1. It allowed the New York Jets to rush for 182 yards and throw for over 200 yards. Since then, the Jets have had one of the worst offenses in the league. Currently, it’s ranked 29th in the league.
The Steelers had some of those same issues in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. However, after that, their defense looked like it was tightening up. That unit has had solid performances in the last few weeks. It looked like it was turning the corner.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case yet. The Bengals totaled 470 yards of offense against the Steelers in their 33-31 win. They had the worst rushing offense in the league, and Pittsburgh let them run for 142 yards. Also, Flacco is still new to the Bengals, and he picked the Steelers’ defense apart, throwing for almost 350 yards.
Going into Week 7, the Steelers ranked 28th in the league in total defense. After their performance against the Bengals, that number isn’t likely to rise.
Harrison is also correct that the Steelers’ schedule doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier. They’ll face three top-10 offenses in their next three games. They also play the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills after that, too.
If the Steelers want to maintain control of the AFC North, they’ll need to get their defense back on track. Their current efforts won’t cut it. Luckily, they’ve shown some signs of progress before. They’re a talented group and have time to turn things around.
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