5 reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers are in trouble without Ben Roethlisberger

4.The not so steel curtain

At times, the Steelers defense looks dominant. At other times, like the games against Philadelphia and Miami, they make you scratch your head.

Pittsburgh has a host of young talent on defense, including Cameron Heyward, Ryan Shazier, Vince Williams and Mike Mitchell, but they’ll have to take their talents to another level without their signal-caller.

There’s currently no date for Roethlisberger’s return, but while he’s out, it’ll up to the defense to step up. They’ve shown flashes, but injuries and bad play have made them inconsistent. If this team is to sustain their playoff push, the defense needs to rise to the occasion. Unfortunately, there’s little evidence they’re capable of that.

They’re ranked 28th in total defense and 16th in defense-adjusted value over average. Numbers don’t always tell the whole story, but in Pittsburgh’s case they’re cause for concern.

The defense is also liable to give up big plays, and in the time Roethlisberger’s on the shelf they could face offenses led by Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, Eli Manning, Andrew Luck, Dak Prescott and Tom Brady. Yikes.