While the Pittsburgh Steelers are off to a 2-0 start, they dropped in a pair of power rankings from The Athletic and ESPN yesterday, but they moved up one spot in Pro Football Focus’ latest power rankings ahead of Week 3. After being ranked 10th last week, the Steelers moved up to No. 9 following their 13-6 win over the Denver Broncos.
“The Steelers have surprised everyone by jumping to a 2-0 start with wins against the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos,” PFF’s Thomas Valentine writes. “The offense has been mistake-free, but it’s predictably been the defense carrying the load. They’re the third-ranked unit in EPA allowed per play (-0.289).”
Pittsburgh’s strategy this season has been to take care of the football and grind out drives, wearing down the opposing defense while letting its own defense make plays and force three-and-outs. It’s worked so far, and the Steelers’ Week 1 win over the Falcons looks even better now that Atlanta has a road win over the Philadelphia Eagles, beating them on Monday Night Football in Week 2.
The Steelers will ride their defense all season, but it’s unlikely that their offensive game plan remains quite as conservative as it has up to this point. With Pittsburgh’s first two games coming on the road, the coaches wanted to mitigate some risk by not being as aggressive and ensuring they could stay on schedule and move the chains. As Justin Fields gets more comfortable under center, we could see more shots down the field and the Steelers open their playbook up a little bit in the next few weeks, especially in the comfort of Acrisure Stadium.
The way Pittsburgh has won so far has worked thanks to the strength of its defense, and if the defense can play up to this level all year, the Steelers should have no problem making the playoffs. They’ve forced turnovers, racked up sacks and generally made life miserable for the opposing offense, and they’ve allowed just one touchdown through two games so far.
Sunday will pose a test against the Los Angeles Chargers, who are going to look to wear Pittsburgh down with the run game before potentially opening things up with Justin Herbert. It might wind up being Pittsburgh’s biggest test to this point with Los Angeles coming in at 2-0 and at No. 15 in the PFF power rankings. If the defense holds up, the Steelers should be in good shape if they continue to play turnover-free football or at a minimum just win the turnover battle.
