The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Can the defense stop bending so much before it breaks?
The New Orleans Saints’ defense ranked 20th in the NFL in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed when they won the Super Bowl in 2009. But they also had 39 takeaways as a unit, the second-most in the league that season.
Yes, they also had the best offense in the game led by Drew Brees, granted, but it was understood at that time that you still needed a stout defense to win it all. That Saints defense did plenty of bending but didn’t break often enough to be detrimental.
I’m certainly not meaning to compare this Steelers team to that Saints Super Bowl team. The passing game is night and day worse at every single level, for one thing. Not even in the same hemisphere. Brees tossed touchdowns like nobody’s business, while for Kenny Pickett, it’s become a rare event to celebrate.
Yet in spite of their many shortcomings, the Steelers beyond all reason are 6-3. You’ve probably heard all of the angles, like how they’ve been outgained every single game this season and how they’ve allowed more points than they’ve scored and yet have a .667 winning percentage.
But questions of sustainability are very real, and while both sides of the ball need to get better, my focus today is on the defense. The Steelers rank near the bottom in yards allowed, though have managed to remain in the top half of the league in points per game.
Their saving grace, time and time again, has been the turnover. Their league-best plus-10 turnover margin is the biggest reason, by far, they even have a winning record. They sealed their last two games with victories thanks to last-second interceptions after the defense allowed the opposing offense to drive down the field with a chance to take the lead.
So what can be done to get them to bend a little less? We can’t keep counting on splash plays to bail the Steelers out. What realistically can we say about the defense getting better this year? Obviously getting S Minkah Fitzpatrick back will be significant. Cameron Heyward is arguably still settling in after a long layoff due to injury. Keeanu Benton just keeps getting better, and Joey Porter Jr. can help continue to stabilize the secondary. Yet the inside linebackers are a mess.
The Steelers haven’t allowed fewer than 335 yards in any game this year and have given up 400-plus twice. Only once did they keep an opponent under 100 rushing yards and never under 200 passing yards. The defense earned a negative Expected Points Added score in five of its nine games so far.
