The Pittsburgh Steelers have generally been good defensively this season, but one thing they’ve struggled with is starting fast. They allowed points on the opening drive in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons and allowed points on the first three drives against the Indianapolis Colts, putting the Steelers into an early 17-0 hole. LB Patrick Queen said the defense has been preaching starting fast since Day 1, but simply hasn’t done it and needs to play with a greater sense of urgency Sunday night against the visiting Dallas Cowboys.
“That’s been the message since Day 1. We always knew that, and this season we haven’t been doing that, unfortunately. We’ve been having a sense of urgency in practice, just the point of us doing it in a game, not warming up to it,” Queen said via Aaron Becker of Yardbarker on Twitter. “We just gotta have a sense of urgency doing it this week.”
The Steelers also allowed an early touchdown to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3, and while they were able to recover from their slow starts when they happened early in the season, they dug themselves too deep of a hole in Week 4. They allowed a touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter and another fourth-quarter field goal, and the Colts hung on for a three-point win. While the defense was much better in the second and third quarters against the Colts, the Steelers can’t put themselves in a 17-point hole early.
Queen didn’t play well early in the game, and while he was better in the second half, this defense is too talented to need time to warm up and not play with urgency early in the game. It’s an immensely talented group, but you can’t rely on talent alone. It’s a problem when they’re getting off to slow starts on offense, and it’s compounded even more when the defense can’t get stops early in the game.
The Steelers’ offense showed some second-half flashes in Indianapolis with QB Justin Fields helping bring the team back by leading three straight scoring drives. But the Steelers aren’t built to win when playing from behind, and it’s getting down multiple scores early in the game is not something that can become a pattern.
The defense knows it, and it’s a group that’s going to need to get its act together on primetime against the Cowboys. If they can get off to a good start, that should provide confidence that carries over the rest of the game and limits the Dallas offense.
