The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense has taken a turn few thought possible this season. The unit struggled mightily to end the 2024 campaign, which led to a ton of new additions on that side of the ball. Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, and Derrick Harmon are the most notable, but depth was either added or players stepped into bigger roles at all three levels of the unit.
Unfortunately, those changes aren’t resulting in progress. Now, the Steelers have taken a step back, having one of the worst defenses in the league. Former Steeler Ryan Clark is dismayed with what he sees as the root of the Steelers’ defensive problems .
“It doesn’t even matter how the Pittsburgh Steelers play on offense,” Clark said Thursday on ESPN’s First Take. “You just got to be better on the defensive side of the ball. I’m watching that game. They’re [offenses] just counting the numbers. They get the football out, no one is running to the ball. There’s no effort, there’s no strain. That’s an issue.”
Given the standard Mike Tomlin tries to set for the locker room, lack of effort would be a big problem. But it’s not a baseless accusation from Clark. According to Steelers insider Brooke Pryor, multiple players in the locker room seemed to be questioning the effort level after their latest loss against Green Bay.
Looking at some of the film, it’s hard to believe everyone on the field was giving max effort.
There’s a lot of bad things on this play, but the lack of effort is chief among them. Patrick Queen allows his man to get open and halfheartedly runs out of bounds instead of trying to chase him down. Then, Joey Porter Jr. makes probably one of the worst tackle attempts of his career, taking a terrible angle and only going for a light arm tackle. If each of those two even try to make a better play, it saves at least 15-20 yards.
There was also a lack of effort in the Steelers’ Week 7 loss to the Bengals.
Tee Higgins' TD. Chuck Clark misses the tackle and then…Joey Porter Jr., Darius Slay? Anyone want to try tackle Higgins? Just gonna let him go by. Neither even touch him.
Probably a TD all the same but…just no effort here. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/DwVUWENW9g
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) October 17, 2025
Here’s another instance of Porter giving less-than-ideal effort. Between him and Darius Slay, neither make a real attempt at the goal line.
People are looking for something to blame in regard to the Steelers’ defense poor performances. But the effort level is certainly noticeable. Maybe the Steelers could get more talent on the unit, or the scheme could change and improve. Yet if there’s not consistent effort from the defense, it’s going to be hard to make any sizeable improvements.
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