Perfection is an illusion in sports just as much as it is in every other facet of life. Even the most lopsided result on the scoreboard belies a performance upon which improvements can be made. And the Pittsburgh Steelers are far from perfect, on both sides of the ball.
On the whole, the defense has fared better than the offense in most weeks, though the fact remains that the Steelers have given up about as many yards as anybody in the NFL. It has been the turnovers and the success in the red zone that has kept their heads above water.
At least entering Sunday’s games, the defense ranked 23rd in the NFL in average drive time allowed as well as plays per drive. They also ranked 29th in the league in yards allowed per drive. And yet they also ranked 10th in points per drive and third in turnover percentage. Go figure.
Part of the reason for the discrepancy, other than the success in situational football, is the fact that they have struggled to get off the field. Whether it’s early-drive possession downs or just giving up chunks, OLB T.J. Watt knows they have plenty of blame to put on themselves for how long they spend on the field.
“It’s always good to see the offense putting up points and sustaining long drives, being able to have us sit over there on the bench”, he said after yesterday’s win over the Green Bay Packers, via the team’s website. “We talk about all the great defenses spend a lot of time on the bench and it felt like, I think the first half was only like 22, 26, plays, in the 20s, and this year it feels like that’s been the amount of plays we played in just a quarter alone”.
The Packers ran 25 offensive plays in the first half, of which 10 came on their opening drive. The Steelers also allowed a seven-play touchdown drive, yet on the other three possessions, they got off the field in a hurry. For Watt, that’s not happening often enough.
“Very pleased with that”, he said of the relatively low snap count they had to withstand early on in the game, “but we need more three and outs as a defense. It’s something we’ve been emphasizing and something we need to continue to get better at”.
The defense forced four three and outs during the game in total, but only one in the second half on six drives after forcing three on five drives in the first half. For the offense’s part, it only had a pair of three and outs all day.
Entering Sunday’s game, however, the defense was allowing a 40-percent conversion rate on third down, which ranked 19th in the NFL. They allowed the Packers to convert 10 of 16 possession-down opportunities, which is awful, going 8-for-16 on third down and 2-for-2 on fourth down, so those numbers will only be getting worse.
With the injuries at linebacker, it’s hard to imagine their third-down defense improving much, but one can only hope that All-Pro S Minkah Fitzpatrick’s return is imminent. As things currently stand, he is really the Steelers’ only hope of seeing an improvement to their defense by season’s end.
