The 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers defense suddenly has a 2005 flair. One that is actively asking its core pass rushers, its defensive linemen and outside linebackers, to drop into coverage instead of just rushing the passer.
That’s not just a feeling. It’s empirical. Our weekly charting shows the sudden surge of dropping these players into coverage. Below is a tally of the position groups, defensive line and EDGE, and how often they’re moving backwards in coverage.
Should note for this exercise that we are counting moments twice when, say, two outside linebackers drop into coverage.
| Week | DL Drop % | EDGE Drop % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – NYJ | 3.8% | 11.5% |
| 2 – SEA | 0% | 20% |
| 3 – NE | 0% | 19.1% |
| 4 – MIN | 0% | 9.1% |
| 6 – CLE | 3.4% | 13.8% |
| 7 – CIN | 0% | 18.4% |
| 8 – GB | 0% | 18.4% |
| 9 – IND | 0% | 12.5% |
| 10 – LAC | 0% | 10.0% |
| 11 – CIN | 0% | 16.7% |
| 12 – CHI | 0% | 23.7% |
| 13 – BUF | 0% | 14.8% |
| 14 – BAL | 7.1% | 40.5% |
| 15 – MIA | 0% | 71.4% |
| 16 – DET | 12.3% | 49.1% |
The trend was fairly typical for much of the season. It began to change in Week 14 against Baltimore and has severely spiked in the last two weeks. Against Miami, Pittsburgh was routinely dropping its EDGE rushers into coverage. Against the Lions, the Steelers used late-game moments to send their defensive line backwards. On the final snap, Pittsburgh dropped both defensive linemen, Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton, and rushed only two players.
Why the change? A couple of reasons. Pittsburgh is playing out of its base defense more often. Partially to match the opposing personality. Baltimore and Miami are “big people” teams who use multiple tight ends and a fullback. That means using its five-down front more often and in more situations where opponents are passing against it, and thus, more chances where Pittsburgh needs to cover.
The Steelers are also using more creative blitzes. Inside linebackers are rushing more often. Malik Harrison blitzed plenty versus Miami. When the Steelers bring defensive back pressure, an EDGE rusher often drops out.
It’s plenty of core principles and concepts Pittsburgh used decades ago when base defense was more conventional. The same way as James Harrison can be seen dropping into coverage in this 2007 game against Baltimore….
Or Jack Sawyer dropping into coverage Sunday…
It’s all the same.
On the season, here are the “drop” leaders.
Defensive Line
Game: Cam Heyward Week 14 (twice), Week 16 (twice), Yahya Black Week 16 (twice)
Season: Cam Heyward (four)
Outside Linebacker
Game: Jack Sawyer Week 16 (15)
Season: Alex Highsmith (45)
Numbers you just don’t see from Pittsburgh’s defense in this modern era. But the Steelers are changing it up. More base, more dropping, a somewhat simpler scheme. Or at least one from 20 years ago. No more are Pittsburgh’s pass rushers going only forward. They’re on their feet, motoring backwards, too, and the plan is paying off.
