The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, and their lead in the AFC North is gone. There is plenty of blame to go around after the 31-28 loss, with QB Mason Rudolph struggling in his first start of the season. But the Steelers’ defense continued its Jekyll-and-Hyde act.
Only a week ago, the Steelers held the Cincinnati Bengals to 12 points, a team that put up 33 points on the Steelers back in Week 7. But against QB Caleb Williams and the Bears, the Steelers’ defense allowed 31 points. The constant swings left former Pro Football Focus analyst Steve Palazzolo with no idea what to make of the unit.
“As confusing as the Falcons and the Panthers and all those other teams are, the Steelers’ defense still might be the most confusing,” Palazzolo said Monday on Check The Mic. “Because I change my tune every single week. ‘Oh, maybe they’ve figured it out, maybe they haven’t, look at this pass rush.’ And then they have plays or games like this, where the middle of the field is wide open. And on third-and-five, they’re dropping nine yards deep just to allow an easy completion with the game on the line.”
On one hand, the Steelers’ defense has forced multiple turnovers in six games this season. They’re 4-2 in those games. But in games where the defense forced one or fewer, the Steelers are 2-3. If the defense can force multiple turnovers, the Steelers are likely to win the game. If they can’t, they’re likely to lose. But on Sunday, the Steelers did force two turnovers.
So, why did they lose? They’ve allowed 30+ points in five games and are 1-4 in those games. Quite simply, the Steelers’ defense is allowing too many points this season. And the Steelers’ offense is struggling to keep up. After the Steelers fell to 6-5 Sunday, LB Patrick Queen struggled to find the right words to articulate the issues, appearing to hold back his full thoughts on defensive schematics.
And honestly, it’s hard to argue that the scheme isn’t a big problem. When the Steelers’ defense isn’t generating big plays, either turnovers or sacks, the unit struggles to play sound defense. The defense gives up big plays and looks lost at times. This is a veteran-laden unit with experienced coaches, so you would expect much better performances.
But according to Pro Football Reference, the Steelers have given up the fifth-most total yards of any defense this year at 4,009. And they’ve given up the second-most passing yards (2,846), only 12 fewer than the Bengals.
So, no wonder the Steelers’ defense is confusing. If the Steelers get sacks and turnovers, they tend to win. And they have players who are capable of doing that. But if they fail to do so, all those yards allowed catches up to them in a big way. And we saw that when the defense left WR DJ Moore wide open for a walk-in touchdown.
CALEB TO DJ AGAIN.
Bears take the lead.
PITvsCHI on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/h8Tv3fn0xf
— NFL (@NFL) November 23, 2025
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