Steelers Make Awful NFL and Franchise History

PITTSBURGH — To say the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is underachieving through two weeks would be a generous statement. In reality, this defense is an absolute mess through the first two games. Their Week 1 victory came in spite of their performance and their Week 2 loss was largely due to the group’s dreadful play.

The Steelers’ defense was so dreadful, they made some history that they never planned to make against the Seattle Seahawks. The team is off to one of the franchise’s worst starts defensively and established a new NFL record that they want to forget about quickly.

The Steelers haven’t had a defensive start this poor since the Chuck Noll era. During the 1989 campaign, the team gave up 92 points in the first two games. The Steelers have allowed 63 points in the first two games of this season, the most since that dreadful start 36 years ago. They've also allowed nearly 400 yards in each of those games, giving up 397 yards of offense to the New York Jets in Week 1 and 396 to the Seahawks in Week 2.

Football player bats down pass at line of scrimmag — Sep 14, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale (96) pressures Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Steelers also allowed a touchdown that had never been seen before in the NFL. The Seahawks lined up for a 3rd down and 19 with goal to go in the fourth quarter. Seattle handed the ball off to running back Kenneth Walker, who carved up the Steelers defense all day, and he ran it in 19 yards for the game sealing score. It was the first time in NFL history that a player scored on a running play 19 or more yards out in a goal to go situation.

This defense is in an awful place, and it’s a continuation of a where this group ended the 2024 season. Over the final six weeks of the 2024 regular season, they allowed 27 points or more four times. Add in the Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and it's five times in the final seven games of the season. Add in the start of the 2025 season, and it's seven times in the last nine games played.

To put that in perspective, just three teams gave up an average of 27 points of more in 2024 - the Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. The Steelers are seven games away from putting together a full season's worth of games being a bottom-five defense in the NFL. And as they keep adding up NFL records to forget and matching previous franchise worsts, the losses will rack up for this Steelers team in 2025 unless they make a change quickly.

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