{"id":135737,"date":"2025-06-17T01:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T01:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/135737\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T01:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T01:09:10","slug":"metcalf-says-steelers-trying-to-replicate-defenses-key-trait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/135737\/","title":{"rendered":"Metcalf Says Steelers Trying to Replicate Defense’s Key Trait"},"content":{"rendered":"

Metcalf Says Steelers Trying to Replicate Defense’s Key Trait<\/a> originally appeared on Athlon Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two biggest additions of the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 <\/a>offseason came on opposite ends of the spring. In March, the Steelers traded for Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf. In June, they added his quarterback.<\/p>\n

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Aaron Rodgers doesn\u2019t move the needle on Pittsburgh\u2019s<\/a> slim Super Bowl hopes, but he makes the Steelers better in the short term and amplifies Metcalf\u2019s strengths.<\/p>\n

Getting everyone on the same page will be one of the biggest tasks of the team\u2019s summer, perhaps headlined by a trip to Malibu to visit Rodgers.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Pittsburgh is practicing, and Mason Rudolph has received plenty of starting reps before Rodgers\u2019 arrival. Reflecting on his offseason workouts with his new team, Metcalf said the Steelers\u2019 offense is trying to replicate a key trait from the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defense is great, just going against them after yesterday \u2014 high energy group, very communicative,\u201d Metcalf said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/a>. \u201cI was joking with Calvin [Austin III] that for the first play out there, I couldn\u2019t hear any of the checks that Mason [Rudolph] \u2014 or the snap count that Mason was saying, \u2019cause the defense was talking so much. It\u2019s just refreshing to see a defense that communicates, and we\u2019re just trying to model our game after them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For fans who remember the slide the Steelers took down the stretch in 2024, Metcalf\u2019s comments are curious. The back seven was consistently one step short in the back half of the season, a struggle that \u2013 from afar \u2013 seemed to be a symptom of poor communication.<\/p>\n

However, there is reason to believe Pittsburgh improved on this front through the offseason. Much of the defense remains unchanged, granting the unit the privilege of continuity. One position the Steelers upgraded was at corner, swapping out Donte Jackson for Darius Slay, adding Super Bowl pedigree and over a decade of experience to the room.<\/p>\n

On offense, Pittsburgh<\/a> underwent more drastic changes, although its true talent level remains fairly similar. Last year\u2019s leading passer, rusher, and receiver have all found new homes.<\/p>\n

Metcalf and Rodgers will play the biggest roles in the 2025 offense, and it\u2019s hard to imagine the unit flourishing without a strong rapport between the two. With Rodgers\u2019 accuracy and Metcalf\u2019s proclivity for stretching the field, fireworks could very well be in store.<\/p>\n

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Related: Early Reviews Are in on Steelers’ New Connection<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: LOOK: Rodgers, Metcalf Together at Steelers Star’s Charity Event<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Metcalf Says Steelers Trying to Replicate Defense’s Key Trait originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The two biggest additions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,9313,2870,7,560,6,6002,520,57,2360,261,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-135737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-darius-slay","10":"tag-dk-metcalf","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-mason-rudolph","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-offseason-workouts","15":"tag-pittsburgh","16":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","17":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","18":"tag-seattle-seahawks","19":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114696039254095905","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}