When the Steelers reported to Saint Vincent College on July 28 for the start of training camp, they did so with enviable depth in their secondary. Jalen Ramsey, DeShon Elliott, Joey Porter Jr., Jamel Dean, Asante Samuel Jr., Brandin Echols, Jaquan Brisker, Donte Kent, some exciting recruits in Daylen Everette and Robert Spears-Jennings.
When the first month of their regular season ended Thursday night with a 27-24 loss to the Browns in Cleveland, that depth was a distant memory.
Ramsey played, but with a cast on his broken wrist; Elliott was on injured reserve, eligible to return as soon as he is healthy; Porter was in Dallas after a trade crossed the line when he signed up for a Wednesday practice after being a full participant the previous 2 days; Echols had to progress through the concussion protocol to get on the field; Dean left Huntington Bank Field with his foot in a boot; and Everette and Spears-Jennings had been thrust into significant roles despite a combined 36 defensive snaps of regular-season experience.
And before I forget, Derrick Harmon, who saved the 30-27 victory against the Bengals on September 27 with a strip-sack of Joe Burrow that Sebastian Joseph-Day then pulled from the pile, also left the stadium with his foot in a boot.
The first month of this 2026 regular season is now over, and the Steelers are 2-2 as they have yet to master the concept of complementary football. Which is simply mandatory if you hope to have any real success in the NFL. Their offense has been effective in 2 of the 4 games, while at the same time their defense has been dominant once, resourceful once, and problematic once.
Too much “sometimes”, which can make for exciting viewing, but more often than not it will get you beat. As was the case for the Steelers, to the delight of the majority of the 68,156 spectators in person.
The Steelers were coming off a win against the Cincinnati Bengals in which their offense had 22 first downs, 411 total net yards, 138 rushing yards, 292 passing yards, a per play average of 7.0 yards, and was 7 of 12 on third downs en route to scoring 3 touchdowns and 30 points, which seemed like the start of good things to come.
Yes, it was going to be a short week leading up to that Thursday night in Cleveland, and yes, the Browns had been such inhospitable hosts in sending the Steelers back to the Turnpike on the losing side 4 straight times and were 8-0 against the AFC North on Thursday night. But these numbers seemed ripe for correction.
Coach Mike McCarthy was 16-6 in short weeks. Aaron Rodgers was 13-8 Thursday night and had thrown 46 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. The redevelopment of the right side of the offensive line that paired Max Iheanachor at RT and Brock Hoffman at RG was an unqualified success. And Jaylen Warren had claimed the No. 1 RB role with 127 rushing yards (7.5 per carry) as part of his 176 total yards from scrimmage.
And the game started with everything going as expected.
The Browns took the kickoff, negated the return with a holding penalty and went 3-and-out, only to be saved by Corey Bojorquez’s 68-yard punt. But it was a short reprieve, as Rodgers and the offense went 78 yards in 17 plays and possessed the ball for 9:48 before taking a 7-0 lead on a 14-yard pop-pass to Roman Wilson. The Steelers were 4 of 4 on third downs, overcame a 15-yard taunting penalty of the ticky-tacky variety and a 6-yard sack, Warren had 32 yards from scrimmage and Rodgers was 5 of 7 for 43 yards and the touchdown.
The defense takes the field, and this time it was a 4-and-out before Bojorquez’s punt was downed at the Steelers one-yard line. But no worries. Rodgers got 5 free yards with a tough count, and after Warren gained 23 yards on 3 straight touches, he was first and 10 at the 29-yard line. The Steelers pressed their advantage and went for a big play, but it turned into a disaster when it appeared that DE Sam Williams got close enough to Rodgers’ delivery to cause a reverse on a Michael Pittman Jr. attempt that ended up being intercepted by CB Denzel Ward.
The game changed at that point.
Four plays later, the Browns were in the end zone after a 38-yard drive through the defense that included at least one missed tackle, and it was 7-7. After a 3-and-out, the Browns’ first play of their next possession is a 60-yard pass to rookie WR Denzel Boston sprinting past Everette who seemed to be expecting a safety help that never arrived or wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. Three games later, it’s 14-7.
Now the rock is actually rolling down the hill and threatens to destroy the village.
A 24-yard run by Warren brought the Steelers into Browns territory, but a dropped pass and a sack by DE Isaiah McGuire on Iheanachor made Chris Boswell’s field goal attempt a 48-yard but still makeable shot. But the ball sailed left of the uprights and the Browns were back in business and with good field position.
Deshaun Watson was getting rid of the ball quickly to take the starch out of the pass rush, and when Dean found himself sidelined with an injury on the first play of possession, the coverage options tended toward vanilla and the catching tackle was woefully inconsistent. A defensive unit that opened the season in dominant fashion has become toothless.
There were some flashes in the second half — a downfield interception by Spears-Jennings on a pass that was redirected thanks to Jack Sawyer’s run, and an All-Pro stretch by TJ Watt that included a tipped pass, a sack and a strip-sack recovery when he asked Watson to keep the ball on a zone read.
The offense failed to capitalize every time the defense made a play, but when Rodgers engineered an 80-yard drive in 8 plays that he finished with a 3-yard TD pass to Pat Freiermuth, then punctuated with a sneak for the tying 2-point conversion with 1:42 left, the defense allowed the Browns to drive 36 yards in 7 plays with little resistance to put Andre Szmyt in position to a game-winning 56-yarder, which he made with 10 seconds left.
“My biggest disappointment that I expressed to the team would be that I just believe that in this league, you get what you insist on,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “We spent a tremendous amount of time and energy on situational football, and we fell short when it mattered most in the 2-minute situation at the end of the game. It’s a back-and-forth divisional game, which I think you’d expect. It’s situational football where we need to be a little better.”
In this context, situational football is synonymous with complementary football.
“To sit here and not be 3-1 is not acceptable,” Watt said. “Obviously it’s a long season, there’s still a lot to do, but we just have to get there. Even at the end of the game, it was way too easy (for them) to go down the field and get in the shooting range. Just look at everything and move forward.”
And specifically for defense, it’s not going to get any easier with a reduced list of competent agencies.
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