The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most storied franchises in the history of American sports. With their six Super Bowl trophies to go along with decades of consistency, there is no denying their success. And arguably their most defining trait over the years has been their front seven, from the Steel Curtain of the 70s to T.J. Watt trying the NFL sack record in 2021.
NBC Sports’ Mike Florio expects the team to continue this tradition in 2022 and selected the Steelers as a front seven to watch out for.
“I wouldn’t want to mess with Cam Heyward.” Florio said. “You look at traditionally what the strength of that team has been. We talk too much about the offense…that team is only going to thrive in the AFC if it can slow down some of those great offenses. That means getting pressure on the quarterback. That means keeping T.J. Watt healthy. When he’s healthy the Steelers defense is one of the very best in the NFL. I would not want to mess with those guys.”
Over the last handful of years, the Steelers have done a good job of producing an elite pass rush. They led the league in sacks each year from 2017-2021 and even recorded a sack in an NFL-record 75 games in a row.
However, this all changed in 2022. With T.J. Watt missing a handful of games with a pectoral injury, the team struggled to get the pass rush going. Despite Watt coming back to play ten games, the early season struggles were just too much to overcome. Pittsburgh ranked around the middle of the league in sacks last year, a respectable 40, but nowhere near the dominance the team showed over the previous five seasons.
That’s why keeping Watt healthy is so important in 2023. Not only does Watt himself get after the quarterback quite a bit, but he also opens lanes up for guys like Heyward and OLB Alex Highsmith to do so themselves.
A lot of focus this offseason has been on the development of QB Kenny Pickett and the offense. But as Florio points out, the defense is arguably the more important aspect of this team. Barring Pickett taking three or four leaps forward this year, he isn’t going to be enough to win games by himself week in and week out.
And with the level of quarterback play the Steelers will see six times this year in the AFC North, they are going to need some aspect of their defense to step up. It’s tough to expect that from a defensive backs room that features quite a few new faces, so the responsibility seemingly will fall on the front seven as it long has in Pittsburgh.
