When the Steelers reported to Saint Vincent College back on July 28 for the start of training camp, they did so with an enviable amount of depth in their secondary. Jalen Ramsey, DeShon Elliott, Joey Porter Jr., Jamel Dean, Asante Samuel Jr., Brandin Echols, Jaquan Brisker, Donte Kent, a couple of exciting rookies in Daylen Everette and Robert Spears-Jennings.
When the first month of their regular season closed on Thursday night with a 27-24 loss to the Browns in Cleveland that depth had become a distant memory.
Ramsey was playing, 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 got pushed over the finish line when he tapped out on a Wednesday practice after being a full participant the previous 2 days; Echols had to progress through the concussion protocol to get onto 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 having a combined 36 defensive snaps worth of regular season experience.
And before I forget, Derrick Harmon, who saved the 30-27 win over the Bengals on Sept. 27 with a strip-sack of Joe Burrow that Sebastian Joseph-Day then dug out of the pile, left the stadium with his foot in a boot, too.
The first month of this 2026 regular season is over now, and the Steelers are 2-2 because they have yet to master the concept of playing complementary football. Which simply is mandatory if you expect 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 was dominant once, resourceful once, and a problem once.
Too much "sometimes", which can make for exciting viewing but more often than not is going to get you beat. As happened to the Steelers to the delight of the majority of the 68,156 enjoying it in person.
The Steelers had been coming off a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in which their offense put up 22 first downs, 411 total net yards, 138 yards rushing, 292 yards passing, an average per play of 7.0 yards, and was 7-of-12 on third downs on the way to scoring 3 touchdowns and 30 points, all of which seemed to be the start of good things to come.
Yes, it was going to be a short week leading up to this Thursday night in Cleveland, and yes, the Browns had been such inhospitable hosts in sending the Steelers back down the Turnpike on the losing end 4 straight times and were 8-0 against the AFC North on Thursday nights. But those numbers seemed ripe for a correction.
Coach Mike McCarthy was 16-6 on short weeks. Aaron Rodgers was 13-8 on Thursday nights and had thrown 46 touchdowns vs. 7 interceptions. The re-tool 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 yards rushing (7.5 per carry) as part of his 176 total yards from scrimmage.
And the game began with everything going their way.
The Browns took the opening 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 that was a short respite, because Rodgers and the offense came on to cover 78 yards in 17 plays and possess the ball for 9:48 before taking a 7-0 lead on a 14-yard jet sweep pop-pass TD to Roman Wilson. The Steelers were 4-for-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 comes onto the field, and this time it was a 4-and-out before Bojorquez's punt was downed at the Steelers 1-yard line. But no worries. Rodgers got a free 5 yards with a hard count, and after Warren gained 23 yards on 3 straight touches it was first-and-10 at the 29-yard line. The Steelers pressed their advantage and went looking for a chunk play, but it turned into a disaster when it appeared that DE Sam Williams got close enough to Rodgers' delivery to cause an underthrow on an attempt to Michael Pittman Jr. that ended up intercepted by CB Denzel Ward.
The game changed right there.
Four plays later the Browns were in the end zone after a 38-yard run through the defense that included at least one missed tackle, and it's 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 safety help that either never arrived or wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. Three plays later, it's 14-7.
Now the rock is really rolling down the hill and threatening to destroy the village.
A 24-yard run by Warren got the Steelers into Browns territory, but a dropped pass and a sack by DE Isaiah McGuire over Iheanachor made Chris Boswell's field goal attempt a 48-yarder but still makeable. 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 went to the sideline with an injury on the first play of the possession the coverage options tended toward the vanilla and the tackling of the catch was woefully inconsistent. A defensive unit that opened the season in dominant fashion was rendered toothless.
There were some flashes in the second half – a down-the-field interception by Spears-Jennings off a pass that was re-directed thanks to Jack Sawyer's rush, and an All-Pro stretch from T.J. Watt that included a tipped pass, a sack, and a strip-sack-recovery when he deked Watson into keeping the ball on a zone read.
The offense failed to capitalize each time the defense made a play, but when Rodgers engineered an 8-play 80-yard drive that he ended with a 3-yard TD pass to Pat Freiermuth and then punctuated with a sneak for the game-tying 2-point conversion with 1:42 remaining, the defense allowed the Browns to go 36 yards in 7 plays with little resistance to get Andre Szmyt into position for a 56-yard game-winner, which he nailed with 10 seconds left.
"My biggest disappointment that I expressed to the team would be, I just believe that in this league you get what you emphasize," said Coach Mike McCarthy. "We put a tremendous amount of time and energy into situation football, and we came up short when it counted most in the 2-minute situation there at the end of the game. It's a back-and-forth division game, which I think is what you'd expect. The situational football is where we've got to be a little bit better."
In this context, situational football is synonymous with complementary football.
"To sit here and not be 3-1 isn't acceptable," said Watt. "Obviously, it's a long season, a lot left to go, but we just have to put it together. Even at the end of the game, it was way too easy (for them) getting down the field and getting in (field goal) range. Just have to look at everything and move forward."
And specifically for the defense, it's not going to get any easier with a shrinking list of able bodies.
