Four games into the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are really struggling to stop the run.
Of course, not having All-Pro defensive lineman Cameron Heyward is significantly hindering Pittsburgh’s ability to truly stop the run, but so far, Pittsburgh has largely had no answer on the ground defensively. That continued on Sunday on the road against the Houston Texans as running backs Dameon Pierce and Devin Singletary helped Houston rush for a season-high 139 yards on 38 carries, leading to a rather convincing 30-6 win over the Steelers inside NRG Stadium.
For former Steelers defensive lineman Chris Hoke, appearing on the Steelers’ Extra Points post-game show Sunday, the struggles against the run aren’t due to a lack of personnel. Instead, Hoke — who played defensive line for the Steelers from 2001-11 after being undrafted out of BYU — is seeing a shift in philosophy up front from the Steelers, who are focused more on getting after the quarterback and creating turnovers, rather than sticking to good run technique and stopping the run first and foremost.
That shift, according to Hoke, mirrors what he saw from the Indianapolis Colts and head coach Tony Dungy during the Colts’ heyday from 2006-11 with star pass rushers Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, which led to some terrific seasons getting after the quarterback, creating turnovers and giving that high-powered offense led by Hall of Famer Peyton Manning the football back.
But that philosophy also saw the Colts get gashed against the run time and time again. Hoke is seeing similarities now in Pittsburgh.
“They’re more of a getting-after-the-quarterback type of defense. They focus on pass rush so they play the run on the way to the quarterback. So when you watch these defensive linemen, they’re trying to penetrate. They’re not playing with really good run technique – playing with their hands, getting extension, staying square,” Hoke said, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “A lot of times these guys are getting cut out of their blocks, out of their holes, because they’re playing the pass. That’s their philosophy. You think back to the Indianapolis Colts with Peyton Manning, that defense wanted to get after the quarterback, Dwight Freeney and those fellows, and that was a Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin pass it on down.
“They didn’t care much about the run because they wanted to get after the quarterback, and they were willing to give up some run plays. And that’s why you’re seeing sometimes them getting in tough situations stopping the run.”
Hoke certainly raises some good points.
For years in the 3-4 scheme in Pittsburgh, the defensive line was all about tying up blockers, staying gap sound and assignment sound, stopping the run first and foremost. After Karl Dunbar came in as the Steelers’ defensive line coach, the Steelers shifted more towards a penetrating style aimed at wrecking plays up front.
When it works, it’s terrific. But when guys are unable to get off blocks and penetrate or win quickly at the snap, it can make for a long, long day against the run.
That’s not placing any blame on Dunbar, either. He’s been a fantastic defensive line coach since joining the Steelers in 2018.
That said, the clear philosophical shift Hoke is seeing is rather concerning. Yes, the Steelers have elite pass rushers on the outside in T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. Yes, it has become a clear passing league in recent seasons, so having horses to get after the quarterback is key.
But the game is starting to shift back towards a more run-game oriented approach as teams start to zig while others zag.
Over the first four games of the season the Steelers have allowed the following from a rushing yards perspective: 188 yards to the San Francisco 49ers; 198 yards to the Cleveland Browns; 69 yards to the Las Vegas Raiders; 139 yards to the Houston Texans.
That’s simply not good enough and has the Steelers as one of the worst run defenses in football.
It certainly lines up with Hoke’s theory regarding the emphasis on getting after the quarterback and letting up against the run a bit, much like the Colts.
The Colts were quite good from 2006-11, but during that span they gave up serious yardage on the ground. In the 2006 Super Bowl season, the Colts allowed a league-high 2,760 yards on the ground. The Colts only had 25 sacks that season though. The 2007 season was more of the same for the Colts: 17th in run defense (1,711 yards) and just 26th in sacks with 28.
After that though, the Colts really started to sell out to get after the passer: 2008 season, ninth-worst run defense (1,966 yards allowed), 16th in sacks with 30; 2009 season, ninth-worst run defense again (2,024 yards allowed), 17th in sacks with 34; 2010 season, eighth-worst run defense (2,032 yards allowed), 23rd in sacks with 30.
The Colts certainly tried to sell out to stop the run to get after the passer. It didn’t always work though. Meanwhile, for the Steelers, prior to last season they led the NFL five straight seasons in sacks and didn’t have a real problem stopping the run outside of the 2021 season.
Last season, Pittsburgh was the eighth-best run defense and was 16th in sacks with 40. That was considered a down year. Prior to that, the Steelers allowed the most rushing yards in 2021 with 2,483 on the season yet led the NFL in sacks with 55. In 2020, the Steelers were the 10th-best run defense in football and again led the NFL in sacks with 56.
That shift might not be very clear from the numbers overall that Hoke is getting at, but something is wrong with the run defense as two of the last three seasons it has been abysmal.
Are injuries part of that? Sure. In 2021 the Steelers were without Stephon Tuitt all season, leading to names like Isaiah Buggs, Chris Wormley, Henry Mondeaux and Montravius Adams getting a lot of snaps.
But the fact of the matter is this: If the Steelers truly want to get after the quarterback, force them into mistakes and take advantage of turnovers, all that starts with stopping the run. They can have all the lip service in the world about smashing the run, but when it comes to letting their play do the talking against the run, they’re silent.
Figure out how to stop the run, and then getting after the passer, racking up the sacks and turnovers will come with that as the opposing offense becomes one-dimensional. That’s what made the Steelers so successful for years and years.
Right now though, they can’t stop the run and it’s allowing opposing offensives to stay on schedule, ahead of the chains, negating any sort of real impact the pass rush can truly have overall.
