One very encouraging aspect to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ refreshing 34-11 blowout win in Week 16 was winning the turnover battle. The defense came up big with three interceptions despite several key injuries.
This brings their total interceptions for 2023 up to 16, tied for third-best in the NFL with two other AFC North teams, the Ravens and Browns. The only squads with more interceptions this season are the 49ers (19) and Bears (18).
Now let’s gain situational context when looking at red zone interceptions:
Pittsburgh’s defense has the most red zone interceptions by far with seven, coming up big situationally with key takeaways when the opposition is in scoring position. Twenty-one NFL teams have a red zone interception this season. Among that group, Pittsburgh has allowed 184 red zone plays (tied for seventh-least), and its 3.8 red zone interception rate comfortably tops the league.
Tied for second are Houston and Baltimore at 2.1, so Pittsburgh’s red zone interception rate is 1.7 more than any other team and doubles every other squad outside the top three. Wow.
This has no doubt been huge in Steelers victories. Pittsburgh’s defense has had a red zone interception in six games, going 5-1 in those contests. The only loss came in Week Eight against the Jaguars with S Damontae Kazee getting the red zone interception.
On the flip side, it’s also no coincidence there was a dearth of red zone interceptions during the painful three-game losing streak earlier this month and only one total interception in that span (Weeks 13-15).
Despite this, the Steelers have encouragingly led the NFL in red zone interceptions for the majority of 2023. Most recently, those picks have come via the Bengals, with one in Week 12 from S Trenton Thompson and another in the Week 16 rematch by Patrick Peterson.
Peterson has shown versatility in the face of injury adversity, filling the void at safety, which has been depleted, and playing very well in the process. Star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick remained a DNP on the Steelers’ first practice report this week while Thompson was a limited participant. Kazee has been suspended the rest of the season for his illegal hit in Week 15 and Keanu Neal remains on injured reserve.
Hopefully Pittsburgh gets reinforcements for the Week 17 game against Seattle and tallies another red zone interception, which would bode well for keeping its playoff hopes alive.
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
