Nick Ciganik

[Kentucky Football @UKFootball]

LSU’s defense hasn’t seen anyone like us or our offensive line yet.

[Nick Ciganik @nickciganik]

@ajc50_craig Following up Andrew, hope you enjoyed the game today

[Nick Ciganik @nickciganik]

This is an embarrassment to football

[Nick Ciganik @nickciganik]

@ajc50_craig Not now Andrew

[Cincinnati Reds @Reds]

OMGeno

[Brandon Huffman @BrandonHuffman]

NEW: San Diego State just has been on a hot streak — seven commits in one week has them sitting atop the entire Pac-12 for 2027.

The latest? Vegas DL Roman Pulefaasisina with "the most violent hands we've seen this spring."

More on the Aztecs' class that is climbing the national rankings under Sean Lewis.

Intel: https://t.co/ETVaNvQULT

[Football Performances @NFLPerformances]

2 minutes of Darnell Washington being a freak of nature.

[Jomboy Media @JomboyMedia]

The Reds have a promotion where fans win free pizza if the team gets 11 strikeouts in a game.

They clinched it in the ninth inning on an ABS challenge and it was electric

[Warren Sharp @SharpFootball]

MOST INSANE 15 SECONDS OF THE YEAR
https://t.co/rh3PB9kKHv

[Dayton Basketball @DaytonMBB]

SURVIVE & ADVANCE ✈️🏀

[Cincinnati Reds @Reds]

The Geno/Jim Day reunion 🫶

[Mark Kaboly @MarkKaboly]

Kaboly: Steelers very well could have a ‘historic’ defense after all, but only if …

Mark Kaboly / Steelers Correspondent
For The @PatMcAfeeShow

PITTSBURGH — Apparently, T.J. Watt isn’t overpaid anymore.

Or Alex Highsmith shouldn’t be traded; or Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin shouldn’t be fired; Peyton Wilson isn’t a second-year disappointment anymore; Joey Porter Jr. isn’t just a guy who gets a pass because he has the proper surname; Jalen Ramsey isn’t showing his age; and the Steelers aren’t a defense that rolls over and bows down to their opponents.

Of course, a lot of that is said tongue in cheek, but you get the point.

Things change in a hurry in the NFL, and we tend to have to be reminded of that a couple of times per year.

Sunday’s unexpected, but much-needed 27-20 win over the first-place Indianapolis Colts was an example of that, so much so that Tomlin reverted to one of his tried-and-true Tomlinisms to illustrate that there is a small gap between being historic and a historic disappointment.

“It's a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes in this business,” Tomlin said. “It's nothing dramatic, you know. It's really not.”

The much maligned and well-compensated Steelers defense looked horrible more times this year than they have looked like a viable unit – well, a lot more – let alone a “historic defense.”

Tomlin’s “historic defense” label – which he felt comfortable calling his meticulously assembled group during the offseason -- was trending more toward joining the “unleash hell in December” failure of a statement than his bullishness on Aaron Rodgers still having something left in the tank.

But on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium against the best team and offense in the NFL, you see what Tomlin was thinking -- the Packers and Bengals debacle be damned, this Steelers defense can be special … from time to time.

The Steelers dog walked the Colts by streamlining their defense and adding Ramsey and newly acquired Kyle Dugger at safety, which allowed them to force a season-high six turnovers and help the team get five sacks against an offense that came into the game with four turnovers over the first eight games and allowed a tick over a sack per game.

After being embarrassed by Joe Flacco and Tucker Kraft to see their lead in the AFC North almost evaporate, a good old defensive whipping on a sun-splashed day in Pittsburgh pushed their lead back to two full games and a lot of dissipated anxiety.

“You know, it was a tough week, but we certainly deserved it based on the last performance,” Tomlin said. “I liked the way the guys absorbed it, smiled in the face of it, and prepared and waited for the next opportunity. That's the National Football League, man. You get one opportunity every seven days. Sometimes you’ve got to wear it. We certainly wore it.”

So, maybe this defense could be historic after all?

Well, I highly doubt that, but it can be a reason why they win more than they lose, that’s for sure.

They do have the talent, and that was on display against the Colts with the aforementioned players. When the talent is paired with a scheme and player performance, you get what you got on Sunday.

“We needed it,” Watt said.

Whether it was Tomlin or Austin, they decided to move Ramsey back to safety full-time and acquire and insert Dugger alongside him in the troublesome back half of the defense despite the latter showing up with the team Thursday morning.

In turn, it forced the defense to go a little vanilla, which eliminated mostly all of the communication issues, and then you got what you got on Sunday – a dominant performance but highly talented defensive players.

“We are happy that we got it done today, but it is going to require doing it week in and week out,” Heyward said. “We have a lot of potential, but potential is a dangerous word. You have to be consistent and learn from your mistakes, and you have to make things happen. It’s not going to fall in your lap.”

Well, maybe we should accept the feeling of hope over the history of being a good defense until they put together more than a one-off defense performance.

One isn’t even a trend.

Despite how well this defense played, and this came after a rocky first quarter, the closest we’ve seen this unit sustaining the level was, if you squint real long and hard, a three-game stretch against the Patriots, Vikings, and Browns.

But not one of those could even potentially carry a candle to what the group did on Sunday.

It was as complete a performance this defense could’ve had sans maybe the first 10 minutes of the game.

“We had to come out and play like this because we had no choice,” Patrick Queen said. “We know what we are capable of.”

The difference between a good and a great defense is consistency, and the Steelers haven’t even sniffed that yet.

That’s the next step.

“We can’t get too high, can’t get too low off of this,” Queen said. “We can’t ride the wave. We have to show up like this every single week. We were way more detailed and vocal with what we saw. We have to do that every single week if we want to be a good defense.”

If this team even wants to sniff that historical marker, they have to do it again … and again … and again.

“We need more performances like that together,” Highsmith said. “I'm confident that we can continue to stack this and play like this every week from here on out. We've got to continue to play like that.”

Against the Colts, the Steelers had their best overall performance, whether it was because the organization was honoring the 2005 Super Bowl champions team that may not have be looked at as a legendary defense, but put together a legendary run against four offensive juggernauts in the playoffs on the road (Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver, Seattle) in winning the first title since the Steel Mill age of the 1970s.

“Those are legends in the black and gold,” Highsmith said. “You see guys like that, see guys in the Steeler fraternity, it adds emphasis to the game. So, seeing all those guys (Saturday) at the walkthrough and stuff was cool. So added some extra juice to our performance.”

It provided a little kick in the ass for some of the players.

“My dad has been in my ear all week about his boys coming into town and telling me that I had to make him proud,” Joey Porter Jr. said, who would hang around that 2005 team in the locker room as a toddler. “If they could put on pads, they would have. We had to come out and make a point, and I think we did (Joey Porter Sr) is going to be happy.”

Porter did have a sack, an interception, and eight tackles.

“But he’s going to tell me I left some out there,” Porter Jr. said.

Jonathan Taylor had been on a heater and was being mentioned among the NFL MVPs before Sunday’s game, in which he carried the ball 14 times for 45 yards. Daniel Jones was intercepted four times, looked confused and overwhelmed for the final three quarters.

The Steelers did to the Colts not what many believe could be done to the most dynamic offense in the league – shut them off like a spigot.

“I thought there was fight from the entire group,” Heyward said. “It’s just collectively, we all have to be responsible. We’ve got to play with a lot of energy, and I love the energy we showed today.”

The Steelers turned three of Indianapolis’ giveaways into touchdowns while reeling off 24 straight points to turn an early seven-point deficit into a 17-point lead they never threatened to give away.

“This is a special defense and I am ecstatic to be a part of it,” Dugger said.

Uh oh, there’s the word again, but maybe it is a little more believable today than it was yesterday.

It will be a lot more believable if they can do something similar against the Chargers and the Bengals after that..

“Not a lot needed to be said,” Heyward said. “Sometimes you overthink a situation. Make it simple and execute what you are supposed to do. We have to reset and go on to the Chargers. Over the last two games, you want to clean up your play. There was a lot more energy today, and kudos to our guy.”

This is the NFL. Either the Steelers will take one step closer to being that defense that many believe they can be, or we will be here next week saying that Watt is overpaid, fire Austin and Tomlin; Ramsey is old … you get it.

But you have to feel better today more than ever; that won’t be the case.

Elite – nah.

Very damn good – very possible.

[Jersey Jerry @Jerrythekid21]

I hate this team

[Brooke Pryor @bepryor]

Joey Porter Jr. said he saw Ja’Marr Chase’s comment that the Steelers wanted to come in and “raw dog” them this week.

“That’s craaaaaaaazy. He’s right, but that’s craaaaaaazy.”

[Jon Ledyard @LedyardNFLDraft]

An annual tradition

[Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafolo]

Aaron Rodgers with the 👂🏻✋🏻 as he walks off with Mike Tomlin and Cam Heyward. #Steelers 1-0 in the Rodgers era.

[Alex Kozora @Alex_Kozora]

Mike Tomlin on Chris Boswell. #Steelers

"Our kicker is a serial killer."

[No Context Pittsburgh @PGHNoContext]

🔊

[Caleb Davis @SDSU_CalebDavis]

Beyond blessed and honored for this opportunity! Excited to get to work and help continue building something special on The Mesa! Big things are coming- DON’T MISS OUT!
#AztecFAST🍢 X #BeTheA1pha🐺 x #TheClimb📈

[Dayton Basketball @DaytonMBB]

Goodnight & Go Flyers ✈️🏀