For many fans hoping to see improvements to the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 run defense after the 299-yard nightmare against the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs last season, their Week 1 performance offered little reassurance. To defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, the two games feel nothing alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how I felt coming off that field in Baltimore last year and I didn\u2019t feel the same way this year,\u201d Austin said via 93.7 The Fan on X<\/a>. \u201cI feel good with our group. I feel good that they\u2019ll rebound, and we\u2019ll play better.\u201d<\/p>\n If it felt like the same run defense as last year, that\u2019s because it was. The Week 1 personnel was largely the same, or even a little worse, than in the playoff loss last year. Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton, and Isaiahh Loudermilk were the starting three. The Steelers haven\u2019t fully tapped into their new talent yet.<\/p>\n Yahya Black played just 24 snaps on defense and, of course, first-round rookie Derrick Harmon was unavailable with a knee injury suffered during the preseason. Harmon should be back in the next week or two and Austin already revealed that Black is likely to have a bigger role in Week 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t flawless for the fifth-round pick against the Jets\u2014missed tackles stood out\u2014but his ability to win at the point of attack and disrupt blocks was promising. Snap for snap, he may have been the Steelers\u2019 best defensive lineman last Sunday.<\/p>\n Critics are understandably going to take a skeptical posture toward the run defense until the Steelers can prove it on the field. But Teryl Austin\u2019s optimism isn\u2019t completely misplaced. There is too much talent on this defense to be as bad as it was at the end of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n