Ex-NFL GM doesn’t hold back on Steelers’ letdown defense

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost in the Wild Card round, suffering a 28-14 beatdown courtesy of the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers are now 0-5 in the playoffs over the last eight years and calls for the franchise to move on from head coach Mike Tomlin are growing louder.

While Tomlin appears far too entrenched in the organization to leave against his will, the longtime Steelers coach faces several significant challenges this offseason. Although the quarterback dilemma and George Pickens drama are obvious issues Tomlin must tackle heading into 2025, Pittsburgh’s defense presents an unexpected problem.

After a reasonably solid showing during the regular season, former Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley is calling out the Steelers’ defense, which he believes is not good enough to compete with the best offenses in the league.

“I’ve been telling you the backend obviously isn’t good enough… And especially it’s not good enough when the front guys can’t get there. As much as we like Beanie Bishop, [Cam] Sutton, and all those guys, they aren’t good enough. No offense to those guys. They’re just not good enough. They’re good enough to be backup special teams guys, but if you’re looking at the teams that are left in the tournament, they just don’t stack up to that offensive firepower,” Whaley said via Steeler Nation.

“To me, it’s secondary, and then you got to get someone to play in that interior defensive line. Everyone had their eyes on [Keeanu] Benton. I just didn’t see that growth. That first year, we thought we might have something; ‘He’s the heir apparent to [Cameron] Heyward.’ Didn’t happen,” Whaley added.