Taken globally, neither the offense nor the defense for the Pittsburgh Steelers has been particularly impressive this season. Sure, both sides of the ball have their playmakers who have produced some electrifying moments, but there’s a reason the Steelers have minus-30 point differential despite having a winning record.
Yet as on offense, the biggest difference has often been the play in the fourth quarter. Their numbers are better almost across the board in the final frame, giving up fewer yards and points than in any other quarter. The Steelers have three game-winning drives on offense, with QB Kenny Pickett being particularly “awesome”, and a go-ahead defensive touchdown in the final quarter as well. So what does head coach Mike Tomlin have to say about his unit’s closeout capabilities?
“Absolutely nothing. I just want to keep the focus on the other side of the ball, and I want them to work in silence”, he said via the team’s website. “That’s the job, to keep the score down, particularly late in games in the significant moments and to deliver the splash plays when needed. They’re the older unit, and so that’s expected”.
In actuality, the Steelers have been outscored in the fourth quarter in half of their games so far this season, those that include two blowout losses in which it really didn’t make a difference and one win that only wasn’t a blowout because of the late scoring.
The meat of the argument is that when the game is on the line, the defense has stepped up to the plate and held serve. One thing they’ve never done is give up a lead in the fourth quarter, and in three games in which they entered the quarter losing, they did not allow any more points. Against the Cleveland Browns, they even added a touchdown of their own.
They also have multiple game-sealing turnovers, including most recently ILB Kwon Alexander’s interception on the final contested play of the Tennessee Titans game with just seconds to spare. CB Levi Wallace also ended the win over the Las Vegas Raiders with a pick. Against the Baltimore Ravens, a T.J. Watt sack on fourth down. For the Browns, it was rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. forcing an incompletion.
Lots of bending, not much breaking, at least, as Tomlin said, not late in games in the significant moments. That is really the only thing that is keeping this team afloat right now, and even that is not always easy. The Titans game, for example, shouldn’t have come so close. The Steelers had two shots at interceptions earlier in that drive that they dropped.
But they are doing what they need to do when it’s needed most when they are in the position to do it, and I don’t think you can ask for too much more than that right now. Especially when they’re contending with the 29th-ranked scoring offense.
