Where Is The Defense?

Normally after a game I would do a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. However this week, I am not doing one. Instead, I am wondering just one thing....where is the defense?

This is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defense is what this team has been built on since way back in 1933. Even when the team was one of the absolute worst in the league, you didn't want to face Pittsburgh because you came out of the game bloody and bruised, worse for wear.

The Steelers defense has been made the poster child for "illegal hits" by Roger Goodell. How did they respond? They didn't change a damn thing. They would still hit you with all they had and then some. They would force turnovers. They would sack quarterbacks.

I remember back when running backs never ran for 100 or more yards on the Steelers defense. Yesterday we let our first 100 yard rusher in Darren McFadden. Last year we let a lot more backs run for triple digits on us than I would have liked.

I know yesterday we were without Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. But if this defense collapses due to missing one or two players, that says a lot about how substandard the rest of the defense is. I mean...we are relying on a 34 year old linebacker who's having chronic knee and back issues...and a 31 year old safety who has suffered multiple knee and ankle injuries the past few years.

These two players aren't going to be playing for much longer. Both are former Defensive Player of the Year winners, both have been big time contributors on Super Bowl Championship teams. Polamalu is a future Hall of Famer. James Harrison is one of the better players in Steelers history.

If this is how our defense looks without them for a short amount of time, I am afraid to see what our defense will look like once these two retire. I know there is never going to be another Troy Polamalu, but we need a better backup. We have yet to find someone that can spell Harrison much less replace him.

I blame our loss to the Raiders on two things: Antonio Brown's fumble and bad defensive play. If our defense holds the Raiders to one field goal instead of a touchdown...they walk away with a win.

If this is how the defense is going to play for the majority of this season, it will be a long season. The Steelers better make some adjustments, because nobody is exactly sure when Harrison or Polamalu will be coming back, or just how effective either will be when they do return to the field.