If there's been one area of concern for the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout the 2025-26 NFL season, it’s been on the defensive side of the football. 

However, in the Steelers' impressive 27-20 win against the Indianapolis Colts, a team that came in at 7-1 and was favored on the road in Pittsburgh, the defense came to play. 

Not only did the Steelers only allow 20 points, but while 13 of those came in the fourth quarter, and it wasn’t ideal, they also had six takeaways.

Daniel Jones threw three interceptions, and the defense also forced three fumbles. 

It was an impressive game for the Steelers' defense, but the question about what changed is fair to ask. 

According to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it sounds like Jalen Ramsey had some words for the team heading into the game on Saturday night, and the defense took it to heart.

“I noticed something kind of changed [Saturday] night when Jalen spoke,” Rodgers said, per The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It’s not easy to speak in front of the team. Jalen had the attention in the room. It was meaningful to me on the offensive side. I felt like we had a different energy in the locker room today.”

The Steelers made a blockbuster trade for Ramsey in a deal involving Jonnu Smith and Minkah Fitzpatrick during the offseason. 

Ramsey is a very good player, and has a different type of fire and passion to him that some around the league don't. 

While he's not what he used to be or in his prime by any means, he's still a very good player and someone who can set the tone for this defense.

As the Steelers approach the remainder of the year, whatever was said by Ramsey has to continue to be remembered. 

Things won't get much easier, as they'll face the Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, and Detroit Lions, and still have two games remaining against the Baltimore Ravens. 

Those are some of the better offensive teams in the NFL, with elite quarterback play. 

With how the Steelers' secondary has looked at times, those games have an opportunity to get ugly.

Hopefully, that won't be the case, and this is just the start of the Steelers’ defense getting back to what everybody knows it can be.