PITTSBURGH -- Coach Mike Tomlin was still in the Baltimore Ravens' visitors locker room when he resolved to reshape the Pittsburgh Steelers' roster.
After the Steelers allowed 299 rushing yards -- including 186 to Derrick Henry -- in a 28-14 wild-card loss to Baltimore, Tomlin decided he needed to infuse the 2025 roster with physicality through free agency and the NFL draft.
"I doubt that I had even gotten in the shower yet [in Baltimore], to be quite honest with you," Tomlin told NFL Network in April. "As you guys can see, [it was a priority] to reestablish physicality and big-man presence."
Not only did the Steelers use their 2025 first-round pick to draft defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, but they also added fellow defensive lineman Yahya Black and outside linebacker Jack Sawyer. And in free agency, the front office signed inside linebacker Malik Harrison and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale and brought back veteran defensive linemen Dean Lowry and Isaiahh Loudermilk.
"The acquisition of bigs," Tomlin said of how losing to the Ravens shaped their roster construction for this season. "You saw our emphasis in the draft around big people fortifying our depth in that area and certainly it has been required."
The Steelers also gave up 220 and 124 rushing yards to the Ravens in their 2024 regular-season matchups, but Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan didn't make their offseason additions with only Baltimore in mind. The physicality of the entire AFC North informed their decisions, including extending hard-hitting safety DeShon Elliott and running back Jaylen Warren and trading for wide receiver DK Metcalf.
"When you look across the league, when you look at the way franchises and organizations draft, a lot has to do with who they play twice a year in their division," Sawyer said. "So when you play the Baltimore Ravens and the Browns and the Bengals twice a year, every year, stopping the run and having big physical players is at the forefront."
But as the Steelers prepare to return Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) to the same field where their season-ending wild-card loss crafted Tomlin's vision for the future, the return on his investments appears to be falling woefully short.
A year ago, the Steelers run defense gave up 109 rushing yards per game. Through 12 games this season, that average is up to 117.7. The rushing offense has declined, too. The Steelers averaged 121.9 rushing yards in 2024, and that number has dipped to 93.8 this season.
Despite moments of brilliance -- limiting Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor to just 45 yards on 14 carries, keeping Chicago Bears rusher D'Andre Swift to 15 yards on eight carries and holding Green Bay Packers RB Josh Jacobs to 33 yards on 13 carries -- the run defense has remained inconsistent.
Head coach Mike Tomlin explains his understanding of Steelers fans and players being frustrated for not winning.
"We got the guys to be physical," Harrison said. "We just got to go out there and just do it. In practice, in training camp, we're physical. That's something that I take pride in. That's the reason why I'm here."
Some of the Steelers' struggles stem from injuries to those all-important big men. Not only is first-round pick Harmon slated to miss a second straight game with a knee injury, but Harrison, brought in to be a thumper at inside linebacker and replace veteran Elandon Roberts, also missed seven games earlier this season with a knee injury. Elliott is out indefinitely with a hyperextended knee sustained in Week 8, and the defensive line depth took a hit with long-term injuries to several of its veterans.
"We've certainly had some attrition in that area," Tomlin said Tuesday. "Dean Lowry, Loudermilk -- and Derrick Harmon has missed a couple of stretches. That depth with young people like Yahya and [Esezi Otomewo] and others, man is significant. You can't run out of bigs. If you run out of bigs in AFC North ball, you're running on the beach."
With injury woes compounding recurring struggles of staying gap sound and not executing important details, the Steelers enter Sunday's first matchup of the season with the Ravens, one that could determine the AFC North title, with grains of sand rapidly accumulating under their feet.
Against the Buffalo Bills, the Pittsburgh defense gave up 249 rushing yards, the most by a visiting team since the Bills rushed for 310 yards in 1975 at Three Rivers Stadium. Not only were the Bills able to put up those numbers with two backup offensive linemen filling in for their starting tackles, but they also found success running the same play over and over.
"I've never seen a team run the same play as much as they ran it tonight and have as much success as they had," Pittsburgh edge rusher T.J. Watt said after the loss. "I mean, I'm out of words for it."
Asked if the bigger issue loomed in the defensive execution or in the physicality of the unit, Watt was succinct.
"We'll have to watch the film," he said. "But it was an ass kicking in all areas."
Other than landing Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers' offseason revolved around building a squad that could bully others, especially within the division. Instead, the lasting image from their most recent loss -- a bloodied Rodgers with tape covering a gash on his nose caused by Joey Bosa's strip-sack -- is one of a team being dominated more often than it's doing the dominating.
"As we stand here today, based on the last performance, not so good," Tomlin said of his team's physicality. "But certainly, at different times in this journey I felt really good about it. ... When you're sitting at 6-6, for us it is about absorbing that and understanding that -- and plotting a course to move forward.
"The team that can manage those things and summon up the good in a more consistent way is the team that's going to have a chance to control this game this weekend."