The Pittsburgh Steelers have nearly fallen out of the playoff race after sitting pretty three weeks ago. They’ve dropped three straight games to go from 7-4 and the top Wild Card seed in the AFC to 7-7 and the 10th seed, needing to win the rest of their games and rely on some help to get into the postseason.
There have been many reasons for Pittsburgh’s downfall in recent weeks, including the play at the quarterback position with QB Kenny Pickett getting hurt, forcing the Steelers to turn to QB Mitch Trubisky, who hasn’t played well. Numerous penalties and lack of execution on offense has also been a thorn in Pittsburgh’s side and then there is the play by the offensive line. It had one of its worst performances of the season last Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts with the likes of RG James Daniels and RT Broderick Jones getting exposed.
However, one area of the team’s play that hasn’t been much help this season is the defensive line, which has underwhelmed relative to expectations coming into the year. The position battles along the defensive line were thought to be among the fiercest in training camp with as many as eight guys capable of playing NFL snaps battling for six or seven spots. NT Breiden Fehoko ended up getting released, resulting in DL Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, DeMarvin Leal, Keeanu Benton, Montravius Adams, Armon Watts, and Isaiahh Loudermilk making the 53-man roster.
Heyward missed six games after injuring his groin Week One against the San Francisco 49ers, requiring sports hernia surgery, which put him out of commission until November. He’s been working his way back to full strength, but hasn’t played like his dominant self, and understandably so, coming off in-season surgery. Heyward has 30 total tackles, six tackles for loss, and two sacks in eight games this season, lacking that splash we’ve seen from him in terms of getting after the quarterback as well as tipping pass at the line of scrimmage.
Ogunjobi has also largely underwhelmed this year. He has three sacks and three tackles for loss to go along with 37 total tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 14 starts. He signed a three-year contract this offseason to stay in Pittsburgh and touted himself as being fully healthy after dealing with a nagging foot injury all last season. Still, Ogunjobi hasn’t yet returned to being the player he was with the Bengals before he signed with Pittsburgh, often disappearing for long stretches of games while struggling to get off blocks. His production would be fine for a guy in a rotational role but not for a starter making $28,750,000 on his three-year deal.
Benton has flashed in his rookie season, being a stout presence against the run as well as showing off his impressive athleticism rushing the passer. Still, that disruption has yet to turn into production. The former Wisconsin Badger only has one tackle for loss and one sack on the year while throwing in two forced fumbles and two pass deflections. Adams has played well overall at the nose for Pittsburgh, being the team’s starter to open the season. He’s missed some time due to injury, though, and his impact has shown up more on tape than in the stat sheet, Adams having 24 total stops, two tackles for loss, and a forced fumble on the year.
Leal has pulled the Houdini in what was supposed to be a pivotal sophomore season for the tweener. He’s made 15 total stops, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a pass deflection. Playing just 25% of the defensive snaps, he has seen his snaps dwindle immensely since Heyward came back into the lineup. The former third-round pick lacks a true role with the team and hasn’t developed into a player you’d trust to be an every-down starter along the defensive line. Watts has played well in a limited showing as a rotational player, but he and Loudermilk have yet to record a tackle for loss. Watt has just half a sack on the season while Loudermilk has proven to be nothing more than a big body who can help stuff the run.
The fact of the matter is that the defensive line hasn’t been able to get the job done both against the run as well as rushing the passer. Pittsburgh ranks 22nd in the league in rush defense and got gashed to start the year with Heyward out of commission. The Steelers improved in the weeks following Heyward’s return but have dropped off again as of late. The Arizona Cardinals ran for 150 on them three weeks ago and the Indianapolis Colts went for 170 last Saturday while down their third- and fourth-string running backs.
The production hasn’t been there either from a pass-rush perspective as the entire defensive line has combined to tally 7.5 sacks through 14 games. Sacks aren’t everything, but when teams are solely focused on stopped OLB T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith on the edge, the interior defensive line needs to get home to put pressure on opposing passing games. Heyward had 10.5 sacks by himself last season, and the entire position group is on pace to match that same total in 2023. It’s a fall from grace from when Pittsburgh would roll out Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, and Javon Hargrave, seeing that trio combine for 20-plus sacks with more coming from the reserves.
This isn’t the position the Steelers hoped they would be after re-upping Ogunjobi and selecting Leal and Benton in back-to-back drafts with Day Two draft capital. The reality is that this defensive line will need a major makeover with it being hard to justify keeping Ogunjobi at his current cap hit next season and Heyward getting another year older. Leal looks like a flop at this point of his career while we need to see Benton take that next step in his development to turn those disruptive plays into production.
Regardless, the defensive line has left a lot to be desired in 2023, and the Steelers will have to find a way to get more out of that unit next season if they want to return to the dominant defensive play that we’ve become accustomed to seeing from this team.
