After finishing sixth in scoring defense a season ago, there are many reasons to believe the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense can improve with some of the offseason investments in the unit. The Ringer put together a ranked list of defenses for the 2024 season and had the Steelers in the sixth spot. The ranking is encouraging, but with the caveat that they are only the third-best defense in the AFC North, according to this list.
“As long as edge defender T.J. Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick are on the field, I’ll feel pretty good about this group. The Steelers had the sixth-best defense last season, and from a personnel standpoint, there’s reason to believe they’re even better set up for success this season,” Sheil Kapadia wrote via The Ringer.
The splashiest move in free agency was signing ILB Patrick Queen, who was a second-team All-Pro last season. But they also added CB Donte Jackson, S DeShon Elliott, CB Cam Sutton and drafted ILB Payton Wilson. On top of the additions, they are getting a healthy Cameron Heyward back in the mix after he missed time and played injured for much of last season. And there are some young players who are poised to make a big jump in Year 2, including Nick Herbig, Joey Porter Jr., and Keeanu Benton.
The Steelers also suffered an inordinate amount of injuries on defense last year with several inside linebackers and safeties either missing time or landing on season-ending IR. There will be injuries again this season, but the Steelers are better positioned to handle them now and hopefully won’t have as bad of luck.
“The Steelers saw their depth tested last season, as only six defenses had worse injury luck. But they gained the fourth-highest EPA on takeaways,” Kapadia wrote. “That’s not something you can typically count on from one season to the next. Pittsburgh was also fortunate to face the second-fewest snaps against opponents’ primary starting quarterbacks.”
Improvements to the offense and the punting game should also play a role in keeping scores down and aiding the defense overall.
But while the defense looks better on paper, the Steelers will also face a much tougher schedule than in 2023. According to Bill Barnwell on X, the Steelers faced a ton of backup quarterbacks last season.
This year, they are scheduled to face Kirk Cousins, Justin Herbert, Anthony Richardson, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, and of course the AFC North quarterbacks two times each. That is quite the gauntlet of quarterbacks and much more difficult than Jake Browning, Bailey Zappe, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and other backups they played against last season.
The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens were ranked third and fourth respectively. So the Steelers should have a great defense, but will it even be the best in the division?
