In my opinion, there are two major issues that have destroyed the defense this year. 1) Clint Hurtt has no business being the DC, this was immediately clear last season and has only gotten worse in 2023 and 2) the ancillary players, or the 'role players' simply aren't good enough around the general core that exists. Guys like Cody Barton, Ryan Neal, etc needed to be upgraded and the players who took their spot are actually playing worse. The interior DL with Williams is really good but there is absolutely no one behind them who can make plays (sorry Bobby) and Nwosu getting hurt shouldn't derail an NFL defense, as good as he was playing. The never ending theme is that when issues present themselves, the defense (coaches) are NEVER proactive in fixing it. What changes have been made since the wheels started falling off? As players got hurt, no obvious schematic changes have occurred to LIMIT the obvious concerning areas. NFL offenses are insanely smart now, they know this, see this, and exploit this. Steelers have a poor OL and came into Sunday saying we are bigger, stronger, and meaner and will run it at will. This was a DAMNING display of coaching, irregardless of players essentially giving up on tackling.
Both of these things ultimately point to Pete for 1) hiring Hurtt and 2) constructing the roster. Point one can be easily fixed this offseason and I think needs to be deeper than just Clint getting the axe; almost all positional coaches need to be replaced. This is a very, very bad defense that cannot line up in correct assignments, don't communicate, and quite honestly look like they're just going through the motions. AT LEAST Jamal Adams plays with fire whenever he's on the field, even if he's clearly injured still and may never be the player he once was. Woolen is the most frustrating defensive player I can recall watching and even though his coverage is good, I have no problem benching him with how pathetic his effort is on run D and tackling.
Pete has been more involved with what a DC is supposed to manage this year than I can ever recall seeing him be and I HOPE this suggests change will come soon. It is obviously his defense ultimately but head coaches delegate all kinds of responsibilities to GOOD DC's who oversee the structure, play by play decisions, and finding answers.