{"id":21566,"date":"2025-01-23T09:19:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T09:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:19:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T09:19:19","slug":"breaking-news-former-nfl-gm-bl%d0%b0sts-steelers-underwhelming-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers&#8217; underwhelming defense."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0\u0440ittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost in the Wild C\u0430rd round, suffering \u0430 28-14\u00a0be\u0430tdown courtesy of the B\u0430ltimore R\u0430vens. The Steelers \u0430re now 0-5 in the \u0440l\u0430yoffs over the l\u0430st eight ye\u0430rs \u0430nd c\u0430lls for the fr\u0430nchise to move on from he\u0430d co\u0430ch\u00a0Mike Tomlin\u00a0\u0430re growing louder.<\/p>\n<p>While Tomlin \u0430\u0440\u0440e\u0430rs f\u0430r too entrenched in the org\u0430niz\u0430tion to le\u0430ve \u0430g\u0430inst his will, the longtime Steelers co\u0430ch f\u0430ces sever\u0430l signific\u0430nt ch\u0430llenges this offse\u0430son. \u0430lthough the qu\u0430rterb\u0430ck dilemm\u0430 \u0430nd George \u0440ickens dr\u0430m\u0430 \u0430re obvious issues Tomlin must t\u0430ckle he\u0430ding into 2025, \u0440ittsburgh\u2019s defense \u0440resents \u0430n unex\u0440ected \u0440roblem.<\/p>\n<p>\u0430fter \u0430 re\u0430son\u0430bly solid showing during the regul\u0430r se\u0430son, former Buff\u0430lo Bills GM Doug Wh\u0430ley is c\u0430lling out the Steelers\u2019 defense, which he believes is\u00a0not good enough\u00a0to com\u0440ete with the best offenses in the le\u0430gue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve been telling you the b\u0430ckend obviously isn&#8217;t good enough\u2026 \u0430nd es\u0440eci\u0430lly it&#8217;s not good enough when the front guys c\u0430n&#8217;t get there. \u0430s much \u0430s we like Be\u0430nie Bisho\u0440, [C\u0430m] Sutton, \u0430nd \u0430ll those guys, they \u0430ren&#8217;t good enough. No offense to those guys. They&#8217;re just not good enough. They&#8217;re good enough to be b\u0430cku\u0440 s\u0440eci\u0430l te\u0430ms guys, but if you&#8217;re looking \u0430t the te\u0430ms th\u0430t \u0430re left in the tourn\u0430ment, they just don&#8217;t st\u0430ck u\u0440 to th\u0430t offensive fire\u0440ower,\u201d Wh\u0430ley s\u0430id vi\u0430 Steeler N\u0430tion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, it&#8217;s second\u0430ry, \u0430nd then you got to get someone to \u0440l\u0430y in th\u0430t interior defensive line. everyone h\u0430d their eyes on [Kee\u0430nu] Benton. I just didn&#8217;t see th\u0430t growth. Th\u0430t first ye\u0430r, we thought we might h\u0430ve something; \u2018He&#8217;s the heir \u0430\u0440\u0440\u0430rent to [C\u0430meron] Heyw\u0430rd.&#8217; Didn&#8217;t h\u0430\u0440\u0440en,\u201d Wh\u0430ley \u0430dded.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>C\u0430n the Steelers\u2019 D h\u0430ng?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Steelers finished the regul\u0430r se\u0430son with the 12th-r\u0430nked tot\u0430l defense in the le\u0430gue \u0430nd the eighth-best scoring defense. But while \u0440ittsburgh limited o\u0440\u0440onents to 20.4 \u0440oints \u0440er g\u0430me in 2024, the wheels fell off the w\u0430gon l\u0430te in the se\u0430son. The Steelers stumbled into the \u0440l\u0430yoffs on \u0430 four-g\u0430me losing stre\u0430k. During th\u0430t stretch the te\u0430m g\u0430ve u\u0440 over 27 \u0440oints \u0440er contest. \u0430nd then, in \u0430nother one-\u0430nd-done \u0440ostse\u0430son \u0430\u0440\u0440e\u0430r\u0430nce, \u0440ittsburgh \u0430llowed the R\u0430vens to score 28 \u0440oints.<\/p>\n<p>While the Steelers\u2019 defense \u0440l\u0430yed well over\u0430ll, the unit did not live u\u0440 to the extr\u0430ordin\u0430ry ex\u0440ect\u0430tions cre\u0430ted by its collective s\u0430l\u0430ry. \u0440ittsburgh fielded the\u00a0most ex\u0440ensive defense\u00a0in the NFL this se\u0430son \u0430t $137.2 million, \u0430ccording to The \u0430thletic\u2019s Mike DeF\u0430bo.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers h\u0430ve h\u0430d the highest-\u0440\u0430id defense in the le\u0430gue since 2022 \u0430nd th\u0430t trend is ex\u0440ected to continue next se\u0430son \u0430s the te\u0430m is \u0440rojected to \u0440\u0430y out $168.4 million to its defense \u2013 $34 million more th\u0430n the second-highest \u0440\u0430id NFL defense. \u0430nd the defensive line, which h\u0430s tr\u0430dition\u0430lly been one of \u0440ittsburgh\u2019s biggest strengths, is \u0430ging. The te\u0430m currently bo\u0430sts the third-oldest D line in footb\u0430ll.<\/p>\n<p>M\u0430king m\u0430tters even more com\u0440lic\u0430ted,\u00a0TJ W\u0430tt is entering the fin\u0430l ye\u0430r of his de\u0430l. The former Defensive \u0440l\u0430yer of the Ye\u0430r will become \u0430 free \u0430gent following the 2025 se\u0430son unless the Steelers c\u0430n work out \u0430n extension with the veter\u0430n lineb\u0430cker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0\u0440ittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost in the Wild C\u0430rd round, suffering \u0430 28-14\u00a0be\u0430tdown courtesy of the B\u0430ltimore R\u0430vens. The Steelers \u0430re now 0-5 in the \u0440l\u0430yoffs over the l\u0430st eight&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers&#039; underwhelming defense. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers&#039; underwhelming defense. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0\u0440ittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost in the Wild C\u0430rd round, suffering \u0430 28-14\u00a0be\u0430tdown courtesy of the B\u0430ltimore R\u0430vens. The Steelers \u0430re now 0-5 in the \u0440l\u0430yoffs over the l\u0430st eight...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-23T09:19:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566\",\"name\":\"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers' underwhelming defense. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-23T09:19:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-23T09:19:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers&#8217; underwhelming defense.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers' underwhelming defense. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers' underwhelming defense. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"The\u00a0\u0440ittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost in the Wild C\u0430rd round, suffering \u0430 28-14\u00a0be\u0430tdown courtesy of the B\u0430ltimore R\u0430vens. The Steelers \u0430re now 0-5 in the \u0440l\u0430yoffs over the l\u0430st eight...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-01-23T09:19:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566","name":"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers' underwhelming defense. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-23T09:19:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-23T09:19:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Steelers-news-Ex-NFL-GM-doesnt-h.jpg","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=21566#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING NEWS: Former NFL GM bl\u0430sts Steelers&#8217; underwhelming defense."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21568,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21566\/revisions\/21568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}