The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is an intriguing unit for many reasons. It’s widely seen as the strength of the 2023 Steelers, relying on the likes of OLBs T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, DL Cameron Heyward, and S Minkah Fitzpatrick to generate takeaways and keep the opponents’ score down.
The Steelers have fared well so far this season at keeping the score down in most games, ranking 13th in the league in points allowed. However, they haven’t been great when it comes to keeping their opponents from getting yards. They have allowed 3,018 yards through eight games this season, according to Pro Football Reference, second-most in the NFL.
Green Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was asked about Pittsburgh’s defense on Thursday, and he thinks that the unit is much more than a “bend-don’t-break defense” that gives up a lot of yards but holds the opponent out of the end zone.
“I mean ultimately that’s what it’s all about is the points, and I don’t view ’em as a bend-don’t-break defense,” LaFleur said to the media Thursday via video from the Packers’ YouTube channel. “I think they’ve given up some explosion plays, but they’ve made so many explosion plays on the defensive side with all the takeaways, especially late in games, it seems like the defense comes away with a huge play that ultimately ends up allowing them to win the game.”
Pittsburgh has struggled to get off the field at times throughout 2023, having the second-worst three-and-out rate in football, ahead of only the Denver Broncos. They have allowed multiple splash plays on the ground and through the air, including big runs by RBs Christian McCaffrey and Jerome Ford the first two weeks of the season along with big pass plays to WR Nico Collins and RB Travis Etienne.
While Pittsburgh ranks near the bottom of the league in passing and rushing yards allowed, it has managed to keep the score down in all but two games this season. On top of that, the defense has come up with numerous explosion plays, as LaFleur called them, to change the outcome of games. They include Watt’s interception against the Rams at the start of the second half, his fumble recovery for a touchdown against the Browns to put the Steelers ahead in the fourth quarter, and CB Joey Porter Jr.’s interception in the fourth quarter against the Ravens to get the ball back to the offense, which went down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown.
In many ways, Pittsburgh’s defense has been “bend-don’t-break” this season. Still, LaFleur is quick to credit that they are just as likely to generate a splash play as they are to give one up. It may not be the Steel Curtain or the 2008 defense that we’ve been spoiled with in the past, but Pittsburgh’s defense is still finding ways to get the job done in 2023, even when it isn’t always very pretty.
