Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson just revealed that Pittsburgh’s defense is trying to go back to the future with new staff
Payton Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers are aiming to get back to their famous mantra, but with a modern twist.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have undergone a cyclical nature of underperformance in the past decade. This time 10 years ago, the offense was one of the best in the league, but there were questions about the defense.
In recent years, the offense has struggled, and the team leaned into its highest-paid defense to win games. But even then, the dominance of that unit has not been the same. It was largely turnover or bust for the Steelers defense in recent years. The down-in, down-out efficiency has simply not been there, but Payton Wilson and Patrick Graham plan on changing that and bringing back an old Steelers mantra.
Steelers 2025 Defensive Stats
- 22.8 points per game allowed (17th)
- 356.9 yards allowed per game (26th)
- 113 rushing yards per game allowed (13th)
Steelers want to bring back Steel Curtain under Patrick Graham
“PG’s been really clear… He wants it to be the Steel Curtain,” Steelers LB Payton Wilson told the media at OTAs this week via Steelers YouTube. “But we have to earn that right. That’s not just something that comes with being a part of the Steelers.”
Now here’s the thing, the Steelers curtain 2.0, or so we’ll call it, won’t be built the same way as the original. Of course, the core tenets of that philosophy: physicality, toughness, and discipline will always remain constants.
However, the new Steelers Curtain would be built on efficiency. Patrick Graham and Mike Tomlin run very different defenses. For Tomlin, the scheme always revolved around players. Drafting and developing, then coaching a player to reach his potential.
For Graham, it’s about putting his players in the best position to succeed. That often involves more complex schemata like changing the look for a quarterback both pre- and post-snap, and the players are already starting to see that.
Steelers players are already feeling the effect of Patrick Graham’s scheme
“It’s been great. He’s awesome,” Wilson added on Graham. “First and foremost, he’s a great person. He’s started with building relationships and trust. We all really respected that. He has a great scheme. The way he’s installing things, it’s all been flowing really well.”
We are still in the honeymoon stage of a new staff in Pittsburgh, but for now, it’s safe to say that the Steelers are happy to have Graham in place.