Mark Madden: When placing blame for Steelers struggles, start with the defense

The numbers don’t lie. Except when they do.

Pro Football Focus says the Steelers offensive line has allowed the least QB pressures in the NFL.

Tight end Pat Freiermuth is on pace for 947 receiving yards. Heath Miller’s best season was 816 receiving yards.

Cornerback Cameron Sutton has eight forced incompletions plus interceptions. That’s tied for the league’s most.

Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith has 5½ sacks, second-most in the NFL.

Kenny Pickett had two rushing touchdowns in his NFL debut. That’s the first time a rookie quarterback has done that.

With all that excellence, you’d think the Steelers would be better than 1-3.

But the Steelers are exactly what their record says they are, and it’s going to get a lot worse. The Steelers will be 1-7 at the bye, no better than 2-6. (That leaves an opening to celebrate the unlikely possibility of 3-5.)

If you want manufactured optimism, stop reading. There’s plenty of stupid to be found elsewhere. This is cold, hard truth.

You shouldn’t be mad. You should be patient and grateful.

The Steelers haven’t had a losing season since 2003. They had a Hall of Fame quarterback from 2004 through last season. It’s been so long since things went bad, Pittsburgh forgot they could.

By the way, Ben Roethlisberger’s podcast isn’t bad. It’s intriguing to hear the retired quarterback doing play-by-play on the Steelers replacing him, and on the rookie replacing the guy who replaced him. (It’s mostly positive, with Roethlisberger launching the occasional passive-aggressive missile. That’s long been his specialty.)

The Steelers will continue to be bad. Count on that.

It’s just a matter of who gets blamed.

Mitch Trubisky has been moved out of harm’s way, and earlier than expected. He was always going to be the primary scapegoat and currently is.

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada is next in line.

Pickett is the golden child and absolutely will not be blamed. Canada’s offense so far this season has been conservative to the point of cowardly. He needs to let Pickett open things up. A thoroughbred shouldn’t be used like a mule.

If the Steelers continue losing, the finger points at Canada. Even if it shouldn’t.

We could blame all-world edge rusher T.J. Watt for getting hurt. Ex-Steelers defensive lineman Chris Hoke said the Steelers would be 4-0 had Watt stayed healthy.

OK, but what if Cincinnati’s long snapper stayed healthy?

We blame wideout Chase Claypool for not making a better play on Pickett’s first NFL interception, ignoring that the ball was floated.

Claypool definitely should have done better. He’s 6-foot-4 and got manhandled by a 5-9 defensive back, allowing the New York Jets’ Jordan Whitehead to grab the carom.

Memo to Pickett: Stop throwing to Pitt guys.

Claypool said he comes down with that ball nine out of 10 times. Let’s hope the next “10th time” isn’t again at a crucial moment.

Coach Mike Tomlin won’t get blamed. He’s immune. But it will be a glorious day when his overhyped record of never having had a losing season gets flushed.

It’s the defense that should get blamed.

Sure, Watt is sidelined. But an “elite” defense that makes a cumulative $108 million shouldn’t collapse based on the loss on one player.

Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has kept making big plays. Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward has stopped.

Larry Ogunjobi has made little impact since arriving via free agency. Tyson Alualu is washed up. The defensive line was supposed to have quality and depth. It has neither.

Inside ’backer Devin Bush isn’t as bad as last year, but he’s still subpar. Myles Jack makes a lot of tackles because somebody has to.

Besides Fitzpatrick, the defensive backs are a hodgepodge of nothingness.

Statistically, the “elite” defense ranks 24th in the NFL. Same as last year.

This past Sunday, boy-toy quarterback Zach Wilson drove the Jets 81 yards and 65 yards in the fourth quarter to turn a 20-10 deficit into a 24-20 win. (The Steelers had more time of possession than the Jets, so the defense being tired can’t be cited as an excuse.)

If the “elite” defense can’t stop Wilson, what chance does it have against Buffalo’s Josh Allen? Or Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady?

Blame the defense. Blame the Saran Wrap Curtain.

We have a romanticized vision of what the Steelers defense traditionally is. This defense isn’t that.