Defensively, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025. They had plenty of bad performances over the first half of the season and have earned a lot of criticism for that. However, things have started to look better recently. The Steelers’ defense has changed in a lot of ways, with different schemes and new faces in new places. The unit had one of its better performances last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, an effort which made an impression on Cam Heyward.
“We ask a lot of our coverage and our safeties. But I think in general, the last game, there’s just been better responsibility. I think that’s up front, that’s with our linebackers as well. It’s got to be a flowing thing that, you can’t just put it all on your safeties,” Heyward said Thursday via the Steelers’ YouTube channel.
Among the changes the Steelers have made defensively, the secondary has seen the most. Jalen Ramsey is now locked in at safety, a spot in which he and Kyle Dugger have formed an impressive duo in a short amount of time. Darius Slay’s concussion allowed some playing time for James Pierre, who’s been a pleasant surprise the last two weeks. And Joey Porter Jr. is quietly putting together a solid stretch of play as well.
But the secondary isn’t the only place we’ve seen improvement. Heyward mentions the defensive line and the linebackers, each of which looked great last week. Keeanu Benton especially has turned it on in recently. He was one of the best players on the field against Cincinnati. He and the rest of the defensive linemen have maintained their gap integrity better in recent matchups. Especially against Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
The challenge for the Steelers’ defense now is to keep playing that way. In each of the Steelers’ last two wins, they’ve forced plenty of turnovers. The Colts turned it over six times a couple of weeks ago, and Pittsburgh’s defense came away with two touchdowns of its own against the Bengals.
But the offense has been rather dormant through that. It’s been a long time since that unit has put together any consistency. It was awful against the Chargers and was kept rather quiet against Indianapolis and Cincinnati, although the Steelers did manage to win both games.
This Sunday in Chicago, the defense is going to have to give a similar effort. And it won’t be easy against Ben Johnson’s offense and the Bears, who have found a way to win seven of their last eight games. With a questionable quarterback situation for Pittsburgh, the defensive responsibility Heyward mentions will need to show up once again.
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