The Pittsburgh Steelers defense had a great 2017 regular season when it came to sacks as a new franchise record of 56 was set. Along with that increase of sacks came an increase in quarterback pressures and especially by the team’s front-seven group. With that said, the Steelers front-seven registered 240 total pressures during the 2017 regular season and that was only good for the 10th-most in the NFL, according to stats kept by Pro Football Focus.
Total pressures by each team’s front 7 in 2017! pic.twitter.com/8sJc9Wub6T
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) March 8, 2018
As you would probably guess, Steelers defensive Cameron Heyward led the team in total pressures with 62, according to PFF. Fellow defensive end Stephon Tuitt had 40. As far as the team’s outside linebackers go, Bud Dupree had 40 pressures while T.J. Watt had 39.
As good as the Steelers defense was at getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks during the 2017 season, the unit only had six of them in their playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars after averaging nearly triple that amount per game during the regular season. The defense even failed to register a sack against the Jaguars.
The thing that sticks out the most when it comes to PFF’s pressure totals is the fact that the team that had the most during the regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles, went on to win the Super Bowl, while the team with the fewest, the Cleveland Browns, failed to win a single game.
