Building up the defense in an offense-driven league certainly raised some eyebrows regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers, but after the last two weeks there’s no question that their philosophy of investing defensively has paid off.
In the last two games, the Steelers have recorded seven takeaways and have two defensive touchdowns, leading to back-to-back wins in primetime over the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders.
Though the offense continues to struggle overall, Pittsburgh has been able to lean heavily on its defense, especially its standout pass-rush tandem in T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
Pittsburgh native and national sports analyst Scott Ferrall sees the philosophy standing out for the Steelers, calling the pass rush “vicious” and able to change the dynamic of games.
“The Steelers mean business … the reason why this team is good … it’s because of T.J. Watt and Highsmith and that pass rush of theirs. In the middle, they are vicious coming at the quarterback straight ahead, from the outsides, and their blitzes,” Ferrall said regarding the Steelers, according to video via the Ferrall on SportsGrid Twitter page. “I think the pick to [Levi] Wallace was a reflection of Watt and [Jimmy] Garoppolo heard footsteps. He was about to get racked, and he got racked by him earlier in the game. Got him again and bent him backwards.
“T.J. Watt is a freak; he is a game changer. Their pass rush is so good that it changes the dynamic of the team every time they play.”
Watt, as is well known, is a freak off the edge. He leads the league in sacks with 6.0 through three games and has generated a league-high 12 pressures. Add in the defensive touchdown he had against the Cleveland Browns in Week Two on Monday Night Football to ultimately win the game and it’s quite clear he’s the best defensive player in football.
He’s well on his way to winning a second NFL Defensively Player of the Year award. He can’t be blocked, no matter what offenses throw at him, whether it’s a chip from a running back, keeping a tight end in to help the right tackle, or even trying to get rid of the football quickly. It just doesn’t matter with Watt.
As he draws so much attention on the left side of the defense, that frees up favorable matchups for guys like Highsmith, Larry Ogunjobi, Markus Golden and rookie Keeanu Benton elsewhere. Highsmith already has an AFC Defensive Player of the Week award under his belt this season, while Golden has a sack in back-to-back games.
Benton recorded his first career sack on Sunday night, too.
The Steelers’ pass rush is a vicious one. While the secondary has struggled at times in pass coverage, with a dominant pass rush up front getting home consistently, it’s going to help cover up some coverage concerns in the back end.
In the first three weeks of the season, Pittsburgh’s defensive-minded philosophy of generating pressure on the quarterback, creating turnovers and taking care of the football offensively to win low-scoring, ugly games has worked as the Steelers sit at 2-1. Improvement is still needed in a major way offensively, but with a dominant pass rush and a defense that is taking the football away at a high rate, Pittsburgh means business in the AFC playoff picture.
