Teryl Austin Issues Simple NSFW Message After Steelers’ Repeat Mistake

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-1 heading into their Week 3 matchup with the New England Patriots, and while they haven’t exactly looked bad, there are some areas the team can improve upon, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. For defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, there’s one mistake in particular he does not want to see again moving forward.

Entering the 2025 campaign, the expectation was that the Steelers’ defense would be one of the best units in the league. Instead, they allowed the New York Jets to score 32 points in Week 1, before the Seattle Seahawks scored 31 points in Week 2. When you are consistently allowing 30 points per game, you aren’t going to win very often in the NFL.

One play concept that is continually giving Pittsburgh problems is deep crossers. Against the Jets, Garrett Wilson got free for a 33-yard touchdown, while Tory Horton hauled in a 21-yard pass for a score on the same concept for the Seahawks. Heading into Week 3, Austin made it very clear he does not want to see that happen again.

“Steelers DC Teryl Austin with the quote of the day on the secondary getting beat on the same play two weeks in a row (deep crossers) for touchdowns. ‘Not to do that s***. That s*** was f***ing bad.’ Austin said they addressed the play during the week, and they still messed it up, and that pisses him off the most,” Mark Kaboly of “The Pat McAfee Show” shared in a post on X.

The Steelers will face an interesting challenge in Week 3, as the Patriots’ passing game showed some improvement in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins after struggling in their season-opener. They don’t have many vertical threats that will challenge Pittsburgh’s secondary, though, which should make things a bit easier on Austin.

In order for the Steelers to meet expectations this season, their defense is going to have to play much better than they have in their first two games. The good news is that there’s still a lot of football left to be played this season, but if New England carves them up in Week 3, it may be time to ring the alarm bells.

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