Can Steelers' defense maintain dominance? Inside Mike Tomlin's necessary changes

"The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

Scottish poet Robert Burns' 240-year quote largely sums up what has been the story so far for the Steelers' 2025 defense. Pittsburgh's defense has faced challenges that forced it to go away from some of the ideas that coach Mike Tomlin had since the team acquired former All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey this past summer.

To Tomlin's credit, he has embraced his unit's current situation and made the necessary changes to maximize the group's potential.

It was clear to anyone who attended the Steelers' first training camp practices that Tomlin's plan was to use Ramsey as a hybrid defender and wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Ramsey quickly excelled in his new role, which surely contributed to Tomlin's August proclamation that Pittsburgh's defense was capable of "historic" things.

While it looked great in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and at times during the season's first few weeks, Tomlin's grand plan wasn't materializing. Things came to a head during Pittsburgh's recent two-game skid, which saw quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Jordan Love besiege Tomlin's unit to the tune of 702 yards and six touchdown passes.

The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back occurred during the second half of Pittsburgh's loss to the Packers when starting strong safety DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury that led to him being placed on injured reserve. The injury, while unfortunate for both Elliott and the Steelers, ultimately forced Tomlin to make necessary changes to his embattled defense.

While not a traditionally active team in terms of trades (especially in-season moves), the Steelers have leaned into that element of player acquisition under third-year general manager Omar Kahn. This paid considerable dividends last week when Khan cut a deal with the Patriots that led to the arrival of veteran strong safety Kyle Dugger, who fell victim in New England to first-year coach Mike Vrabel's new defensive scheme.

As Tomlin often says, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." So far, that has been the case with Dugger, who received a game ball from Tomlin after playing in all but one of Pittsburgh's defensive snaps during this past Sunday's upset win over the Colts. With Dugger on the field, the Steelers' defense forced five turnovers that led to 24 of Pittsburgh's 27 points.

"I was hopeful that he could play a lot, but certainly we had direct eyes on him in case it wasn't unfolding in the ways that we would like," Tomlin said of his new safety. "We're just getting to know him. We certainly respect the fact that he's a veteran player. He certainly displayed signs that he was capable in our practice sessions leading up for Sunday. But stadiums are somewhat different, and so we had a plan, but we were certainly light on our feet if that wasn't moving and moving in the right direction."

Dugger was just one of Pittsburgh's big changes at safety, though. Tomlin moved Ramsey exclusively to free safety before this past week's game against the Colts, and he will remain there for Sunday's game at the Chargers.

"We value his play, his positional flexibility," Tomlin said of Ramsey. "It's an asset to us. It gives a lot of people things to work on. But certainly under the circumstances that we're under right now, we deem that appropriate, as we did last week, in terms of nailing him down there and to provide opportunities for guys like Brandin Echols to step up, which he did, and play more snaps as a nickel, etcetera.

"And even guys like James Pierre had an opportunity to get some snaps outside. We've got more depth at corner than we do at safety, and so we're just simply pivoting and doing what's required to keep the train rolling."

This clearly wasn't the plan when the Steelers acquired Ramsey (and tight end Jonnu Smith) while simultaneously trading multiple All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Dolphins on June 30. But with Elliott's injury and Pittsburgh's other safeties not filling Fitzpatrick's void, Pittsburgh's brass has made the necessary adjustments.

So, too, has Ramsey, who made several big hits during the Steelers' win over the Colts. He also provided a spark during a team meeting on the eve of the game. Ramsey delivered a speech that Aaron Rodgers said gave the Steelers "a different energy."

"He's got a lot of experience," Tomlin said of Ramsey. "NFL experience, world-championship experience, and I'm thankful that he was willing to share that with his teammates."

This isn't the first significant change Tomlin and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin have made to this defense. Earlier this season, second-year inside linebacker Payton Wilson went from being a full-time starter to sharing reps with veteran Cole Holcomb.

While Holcomb gave the defense a temporary boost, it has also brought out the best in Wilson, who had a big interception and deflected a pass that led to another pick during Pittsburgh's win over Indianapolis.

These adjustments are examples of how Tomlin and the Steelers have been able to reel off 18 consecutive non-losing seasons.

Instead of lamenting over a plan that didn't pan out, Tomlin has made the necessary changes to give his defense -- and, therefore, his team -- the best chance at success this week and moving forward.

It's a testament to his flexibility and ability to pivot when needed.

Pittsburgh's defensive adjustments not only calls to mind Burns' quote, it's also an example of one of Tomlin's classic isms, specifically regarding Ramsey and Dugger.

"It's not what you're capable of, it's what you're winning to do."