Packers rip through reeling Steelers secondary for prime-time win

Brian Batko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Oct 26, 2025

Published in Football

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PITTSBURGH — The youngest team in the NFL came to Pittsburgh and showed the oldest team in the AFC that the future is now.

Jordan Love and Tucker Kraft put on a clinic for Green Bay as the Packers sliced and diced the Steelers defense in a 35-25 win at Acrisure Stadium. Kraft, a third-year tight end, led the entire league Sunday with 143 receiving yards on seven catches, which somehow pales in comparison to Ja’Marr Chase putting up 16 receptions for 161 yards just 10 days ago.

Something is very wrong with the Steelers secondary — and why spare the defensive front and linebackers in that, too? — as they dropped their second game in a row to fall to 4-3. Heart-and-soul hard-hitter DeShon Elliott went down with a gruesome-looking knee injury early in the third quarter and that hurt. Darius Slay Jr. was benched for Brandin Echols, but that didn’t help.

The safety pairing of Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark was nowhere to be found in coverage. Head coach Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin had extra time to get ready for this one just to get roasted again in prime time, but there were plenty of moments where individuals just didn’t make the physical plays necessary to stop the Packers (5-1-1).

We got this far without mentioning Aaron Rodgers, who was under the spotlight more than anyone. He had some flashes of brilliance, but the dam broke in the second half and he was under siege more often than he was leading the charge. Rodgers threw for just 149 yards on 17-of-27 passing and wound up being sacked three times, with a few close calls on top of that.

It could’ve been even worse had Packers kicker Brandon McManus not missed two field goals, including a 44-yarder, while Chris Boswell drilled all four of his covering a combined 210 yards. Now it’s back to the drawing board, and we know Tomlin likes to say two is a trend. This team is trending the wrong way, particularly in Tomlin’s area of expertise.

It was over when ...

Jonnu Smith couldn’t complete the catch on a 2-point conversion toss from Rodgers with 2:07 left and trailing 35-25, which failed to make it a one-possession game going into Boswell’s declared onside kick attempt.

Player of the game

Love. As easy as it would be to go with Kraft, who sprinkled some cheese all over the resodded grass with his two touchdown catches of 33 and 59 yards, Love was masterful against his old mentor. He completed 29 of 37 passes for 360 yards, didn’t get sacked a single time and did it all with a ground game that wasn’t particularly effective. The Packers averaged 3.8 yards per carry, so, hey, at least the Steelers can feel better about stopping the run. We know how much they talked about that all week following the Bengals loss. In all seriousness, it’s probably time someone starts taking a hard look at the pass defense. That was supposed to be much-improved in 2025, but even as the players change, the problems remain.

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Roman Wilson. His touchdown wasn’t the smoothest, given that he had the ball knocked away at the end, but all that matters is that it counted and gave the Steelers the slightest bit of life in the waning minutes. All told, Wilson built on his bump in Cincinnati with another career game, bringing in four passes for 74 yards. He appears to be running crisp routes to separate and get open, the hands were strong enough on his first NFL touchdown grab, and the rapport with Rodgers seems to be improving by the week. The fact that he broke out on a night that Calvin Austin III returned to the lineup from his shoulder injury is even more encouraging, and Scotty Miller may not get his game-day spot back once he returns from his finger issue.

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T.J. Watt. The closest he got to Love in the first half ended up in a facemask call that set up the Packers for a field goal (Brandon McManus missed). He did get a quarterback hit in the third quarter but was fortunate to not be called for roughing the passer as he followed through a bit. With Micah Parsons on the Packers defense lining up all over, notching a key second-half sack and contributing to some full-scale pocket collapses around Rodgers, the difference in pass-rusher dominance was noticeable. Perhaps it’s a factor of Watt being chipped and double-teamed so much, but he’s faced those obstacles for years and found ways to be more productive than he’s been this season with just four sacks through seven games.

Up next

Another home game against the surprising Colts, who are rolling to the tune of 7-1 behind NFL Comeback Player of the Year candidate Daniel Jones and Offensive Player of the Year candidate Jonathan Taylor.

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