PITTSBURGH — The celebration was choreographed days before the Steelers stepped into the stadium. Leading up to Monday’s game, Cameron Heyward, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig made a deal: If any of the three took down Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, they would pay homage to T.J. Watt by doing their own version of the star outside linebacker’s sack dance.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the game well in hand, Heyward’s moment came. He put a Dolphins lineman on skates and then put Tagovailoa on the turf. As promised, Heyward jumped to his feet and kicked his leg in the air.
“I don’t think I got my leg up high enough,” Heyward joked. “But we all wanted to shout out T.J.”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin often talks about “engineering victory.” The blueprint for beating the Dolphins was a simple one: stop the run and good things would follow. That was easier said than done. Entering Monday night, Miami had averaged a league-high 192 rushing yards per game during a four-game winning streak. It looked like a potential mismatch for a Steelers run defense that had allowed back-to-back 200-plus yard rushing outings, to the Bills and the Ravens.
To make the situation more challenging, the Steelers were hit with some unexpected adversity when Watt sustained a partially collapsed lung during a dry needling treatment last week. Before Monday, the Steelers had lost 11 of the 12 games Watt missed since he arrived in 2017. With Watt out and rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon recovering from a knee injury, they were missing two of their best run defenders.
“Just knowing how they were running the ball coming into this and how bad we’ve been at run defense, honestly, something had to give,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said. “We didn’t want it to be us.”
During a 28-15 victory that keeps the Steelers in the driver’s seat atop the AFC North, there were plenty of positives. Pittsburgh turned a rock fight into a blowout by scoring touchdowns on four consecutive possessions, including one before the half and one after to double-dip. Players who were — in the words of Aaron Rodgers — “castoffs” became key contributors. Running back Kenneth Gainwell, playing on a bargain-bin $1.79 million deal, tallied 126 yards from scrimmage as he continues to outperform his paycheck. Cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., signed as a free agent in November, recorded his first interception as a Steeler in his first start of 2025. And Rodgers himself played an efficient game, completing 23 of 27 passes and throwing two touchdowns for a sparkling passer rating of 125.9.
But the most significant development was in the area that’s plagued the Steelers most of late: run defense. The Dolphins’ diverse and creative run scheme presented a number of unique challenges. When they’ve been able to get running backs on the perimeter recently, Miami’s offense has been a nightmare for opponents. On Monday night, the Steelers won this critical matchup in a lopsided way. They limited the Dolphins to just 63 rushing yards; it was the first time since Week 9 that Miami failed to reach the 100-yard mark and its third-lowest rushing output of the season.
“I think we did a really good job of just understanding what’s happening,” inside linebacker Payton Wilson said. “I feel like they had a lot of tells, and the coaches did a great job. We did a great job of preparing and just being more physical than they are. Guys were flying around and having fun.”
Queen led the charge with a team-high 10 tackles, including nine solo and two for loss. Former Dolphin Jalen Ramsey made six tackles, including a sack on a well-timed blitz. And Heyward added five tackles (two for loss) and the aforementioned sack. Collectively, this group and the rest of the defense did enough to overcome the absence of Watt and Harmon.
“It’s not a one-man team,” Heyward said. “It’s not a one-man defense. We’ve all got to thrive. We’ve all got to play our best ball in December. And the way I look at is we just bought a week off for T.J. I don’t know when he’s coming back, but his legs should be feeling good.”
Before Monday, the last time the Steelers were in Acrisure Stadium, fans were booing the defensive anthem “Renegade” and chanting to “Fire Tomlin.” The Steelers were in the midst of a rough stretch during which they lost five of seven games — and control of the AFC North. It was a time when the team could have splintered and the season could have unraveled.
Instead, the Steelers responded with back-to-back wins, first a victory in Baltimore to reclaim the division lead and then an important AFC win that could be important in a potential tie-break scenario. The outside noise could have torn down this team. It galvanized them.
“I think just keeping the outside noise, the outside noise,” Wilson said. “I think we got closer over the last few weeks as a team because of the struggle.”
Added Heyward: “I understand our fans are passionate, but our players are passionate. Our coaches are passionate. We hold ourselves to a higher standard here. When you play for a team like this that’s had a lot of success, we’re not responsible for that. Those guys before, we’re trying to grasp what they did. But the expectations are high and we like it that way.”
The expectations for the defense, in particular, have been sky-high after the team continued to pour money into that side of the ball. That group, largely, has underperformed. While Rodgers is showing he still has some life left in his 42-year-old right arm and the running game has come alive (at times), the winning formula in December and January still hinges upon the defense playing at a high level.
Monday was just one game. But the way in which Pittsburgh stuffed the run represents a meaningful step in the right direction. Was it just a one-game improvement or is the progress sustainable? Pittsburgh won’t have to wait long for an answer. On Sunday, the Steelers travel to Detroit to face the Lions, who are averaging the fifth-most rushing yards per game in the NFL (131). Limiting the Lions will be another step toward proving this defense has what it takes to win late-season football games.
“Right now, this is the part of the season when you create momentum,” Queen said. “I think God does everything for a reason. I think we went through all the stuff we went through to prepare us. It’s going to be three extremely tough games, but we’ve got the guys to do it.”