The Pittsburgh Steelers once built a dynasty on the back of an amazing defense, and that has defined them since then. Even when the Steelers have had weak defensive units, they’ve still been strong in certain areas. Based on the one game they’ve played so far this year; it looks like the Steelers might have another fantastic defense on their hands.
“I think the Steelers might have the best defense in football,” NFL analyst Matt Harmon said Wednesday on Yahoo Sports’ podcast, Football 301. “Maybe that’s spicy, but I think it’s pretty mild considering they have a true game-wrecker in T.J. Watt. He was offsides one of the times he blew through and sacked the quarterback, but he was clearly affecting this game from a snap-by-snap basis.”
With how they looked against the Atlanta Falcons, that’s not a hot take at all. Things looked shaky on the Falcons’ first possession, but the Steelers tightened up and basically shut them down after that. The Falcons have good pieces on offense too. They’ve invested a lot of high draft capital on that side of the ball, and the Steelers still dismantled them.
Watt was the star of that unit, and he probably wasn’t offsides on that play Harmon is referencing, but there were other players who stood out too. Larry Ogunjobi had a dominant game. Cam Heyward was back to his old self. Donte Jackson and DeShon Elliott both made splash plays. The list goes on and on.
The Steelers have a chance to build on that strong start too. In Week 2, they play the Denver Broncos, who have rookie quarterback Bo Nix starting. Nix struggled in his first NFL game, and the Steelers shouldn’t make it any easier on him. Anything can happen, but their first true test probably won’t come until Week 3 when Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers come to town.
With Watt and company healthy though, the Steelers shouldn’t fall off too much, even when faced with a great offense. The key will be if their offense can score points in turn. If the offense can give the Steelers’ defense some breathing room, then it should have a good chance at being the best in the league.
