PITTSBURGH — The Steelers defense is far from the talk of the town after the performances the offense has put up the past few weeks. However, that does not mean the defense is not feeling the burden on top of it. While the offense may be leaving the defense out to dry at times, the defense is taking it hard and knows they need to play better complementary football.
When speaking with the media after the game, Steelers safety Terrell Edmunds noted that even with the offense struggling, it is the defense’s job to pick them up and keep the game moving. It is something that he felt they never did enough of on Sunday.
“There’s no frustration towards the offense,” Edmunds said. “Because even if they’re struggling, we have to help them. If we’re struggling, they have to help us. Those play hand-in-hand with each other. We know going into a game that everyone knows. We have to help each other out. Even in the game, we have to go out there and try to pick each other up. That’s our whole mindset regardless.”
The most non-complementary football of the day from the defense was the quick touchdown drive they allowed after the Steelers scored their first and only touchdown of the game. Edmunds and the defense know that this is something they have to improve upon down the stretch. It was something that Edmunds said the team knows they must improve upon, even as they get healthier.
“On the back end, we have to keep the top down,” Edmunds said. “You know, we have to go out there and make plays. We have to cover a little bit longer because we know the guys up front have trust in them. So, we have to instill that trust back as well … we have to get off the field. The offense went down there and scored, and we have to get off the field. We knew they were going to get the ball after halftime. So, we just have to go down and get off the field. It’s definitely tough, but we have to figure it out.”
The defense may be getting key contributors such as T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Stephon Tuitt back soon. Whenever that truly is, however, the defense certainly does need to pick the offense up more in the future.