With some of the offseason additions, and the defense getting healthier from an injury-plagued 2024 season, there were high expectations for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense in 2024. The secondary has plenty of talent, but the defensive front is what makes the engine work.
They didn’t disappoint in Week 1 with a huge performance against Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons. Pro Football Focus released their defensive line rankings after the first week of football, and the Steelers are atop the league in the No. 1 position. This was against a Falcons offensive line that PFF had ranked No. 6 entering the season, by the way.
The Steelers’ D-line received an 89.5 overall grade from PFF, which is just a half point shy of an “elite” grade in their system. The next closest team was the Detroit Lions with an 85.0 overall, so it wasn’t particularly close.
“The Steelers’ pass rush dominated Falcons QB Kirk Cousins throughout the game, earning a 90.7 pass-rush grade while holding Cousins to a 27.7 passing grade under pressure,” wrote PFF’s John Kosko. “Despite their usual blitz-heavy approach, the Steelers blitzed on just 14% of plays, effectively generating pressure without relying on frequent blitzes.”
Mike Tomlin discussed the approach to avoid blitzing much after the game on Sunday.
“Cousins is very good versus blitz, and so we had to create pressure really in a non-blitz structure,” Tomlin said in a video posted on the Steelers’ website. “We know that about him. Last year, he was good versus five or more rushers. Over the course of his career, he’s great versus five or more rushers. He’s been good against us specifically as the Pittsburgh Steelers versus five or more rushers, and so that wasn’t our agenda. We needed to do it with a four-man rush.”
The fact that they were able to put Cousins under that much pressure without blitzing is very encouraging for the defensive front. It is exciting to think what that could mean when they start blitzing and using more exotic looks on defense.
And they were equally good against the run. They held Bijan Robinson, who many think will be among the top running backs in 2024, to just 68 yards on 18 carries. The Falcons had just 89 rushing yards in total.
This effort was led by T.J. Watt, who received an absurd 95.3 overall grade from PFF. His stat line wasn’t as eye-popping as some of his efforts in the past, but that is because he had two strip sacks negated by penalty.
Overall, the Steelers’ D-line, including the outside linebackers, combined for 23 tackles, two sacks, seven QB hits, and 13 pressures. That would have included two more sacks and forced fumbles, if not for penalties.
They will now go on the road to face a struggling Denver Broncos offense that already had two starting offensive linemen dealing with injuries. It could be another huge week for the Steelers’ defensive front.
