The Pittsburgh Steelers defense held the New York Jets to just six points Sunday to help the team notch their first win of the season and they recorded their first two turnovers of the year in the process. More importantly, perhaps, they limited the killer explosive plays that killed them in the London loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
On the day, the Steelers defense only surrendered two plays of 20 yards or more and only two runs of 10 yards or more, with the longest being 18 yards with 3:43 left in the game.
In the loss to the Vikings, the Steelers defense allowed five explosive plays and running back Adrian Peterson was one yard short of a sixth. Two of those explosive plays ended in touchdowns.
Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau preaches to his defense to not to give up the big play and when the offense provides the unit with the lead, that is usually when the turnovers happen. Both turnovers on Sunday came when the Steelers had a lead of 10 or more points and that’s not a surprise, especially against a rookie quarterback.
While the defense as a whole still needs to clean up their tackling a little bit more, they are indeed headed back in the right direction as they now prepare for a crucial home game against the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday at Heinz Field.
