Week 2 Blog: Wins don't always come easy

Sep 08, 2025 at 04:07 PM

Teresa Varley

Steelers.com

Monday, September 8

Wins don't come easy: In the National Football League, wins don't come easy.

So, you will never hear a player complaining following a win.

Nor should you.

And that was the case on Monday following the Steelers 34-32 win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.

"We know we could play better, but we came out with a win," said safety Juan Thornhill. "It's hard to get those wins in this league."

It took all three phases to pull out the win, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers throwing four touchdown passes and Chris Boswell nailing a 60-yard field goal.y

The defense, while they admit they 'could play better,' they still came up with big plays, including Jalen Ramsey breaking up Justin Fields' pass to Garrett Wilson on the Jets final play of the game.

Despite that, Thornhill stressed the importance of getting back to work. The defense allowed 182 yards rushing, while Fields threw for 218 yards.

"We were getting gashed in the running game and that was very obvious," said Thornhill. "I just feel like that's something that we have to work on.

"It will be something that we'll emphasize this week, but I'm not really panicked at all. I don't think no one on the defensive side is panicking one bit. People outside the building might be a little worried because I know we threw some stuff out there early in in camp talking about how this defense can be one of the best, but it still can.

"It's week one. We just finished the first game, and that was technically our second time playing with each other all together.

"I'm excited. It's going to be fun, and I think we're going to make a lot of plays."

Thornhill said the back end needs to do everything they can to help eliminate big plays in the ground game, with the Jets having three players with rushes of 15 plus yards on Sunday.

"It's reading our keys, getting to the ball a lot faster," said Thornhill. "You can't always rely on those guys up front to make every single play. So, if they don't make it, we've got to be there to eliminate those explosive runs. Instead of them getting 10 to 15 yards, maybe keep it down to five to eight yards and things like that.

"So, just reading our key and being more disciplined."

The secondary did suffer a few blows against the Jets when DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury and Joey Porter Jr. a hamstring injury.

Versatility played a key role, as Thornhill moved into Elliott's spot and more shifting ensued.

"I felt like the safety part of it sucked because we lost DeShon early in that game," said Thornhill. "It was fun for me because I'm used to being that deep safety in this defense. And then when DeShon went down, I get to get closer to that line of scrimmage and make a lot more plays down there. I even told him, it's a little different, but I actually enjoyed it. It was fun being down there. The energy was electric.

"I think it was very professional. I don't feel like anybody panicked. Chuck (Clark) came in. Well, it started with me and Jalen back at safety at first. And then I think Joey went down and that put Jalen in a corner and then Chuck (Clark) came into game. I just felt like everything was professional. Nobody panicked, everybody came in and did their role play very well."

Being more detailed: There was a good feeling in the Steelers locker room on Monday after the win over the Jets, but at the same time, the players know there is still work to be done.

The Jets had 182 yards rushing, something the defense wants to eliminate moving forward.

"We have to be more detailed," said defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk. "We're going to go in today and really see what it was. It's tough to say until we watch the film. But once we get in and dissect this with the coaches and everyone else, we'll be able to have a better grasp on what we have to do.

"I think just detail. And I think up front it was getting off blocks. I don't think as a defensive line we got off blocks well enough. We've got to be able to improve, see what it is. But in the moment, it always feels like getting off blocks. When you have a guy attached to you, it's tough to make tackles. So, if we can shed those, be more clean, I think we'll be able have a better performance."

Loudermilk said the key for the defense is to not try and overcompensate by getting away from their assignments and try to make a big play. Instead, just go with what the plan is and things will play out.
"You always want to make the play, especially as an individual," said Loudermilk. "If you see things, you look at it like, I can make this play. But at the same time, you got to be detailed because there's 11 defensive players out there and everyone has to be in their gaps. Everyone has to be doing their job. So, if you have one person jumping out of a gap with a team like that, that can turn into a big hit, and it did multiple times.

"For us, it's being able to clean that up, making sure everyone's playing together and on the same page."

Running back Breece Hall rushed for 107 yards on 19 carries, while quarterback Justin Fields has 12 carries for 48 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Loudermilk knows with the likes of quarterbacks like the Bills' Josh Allen and the Ravens' Lamar Jackson on the schedule, they have to stay on alert.

"There's a lot of talented running quarterbacks in this league," said Loudermilk. "A lot of teams that run that scheme. We've got to get that dialed in. That's just figuring out who needs to be where, who's attacking the runner, who is attacking the quarterback.

"So, we'll get that detail. But there's lots of good running quarterback in the league. So, we've got to get that right."

While the Steelers worked on that area all throughout training camp, until game day arrives you can't predict how it will play out.

"When you go through training camp, you're working on everything," said Loudermilk. "You hope that you have everything right. But sometimes the first game comes, it's not where you want it to be. And it wasn't where we wanted it to be, so we had to go in and clean that up. But for us, it is learning from yesterday and moving forward."

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Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (30) during a regular season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025 in East Rutherford, NJ. (Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers)

Alysa Rubin/Pittsburgh Steelers