For as many reasons why the Pittsburgh Steelers are on their first losing skid of the season, the defense’s lack of third-down success eats at me. Maybe because it’s so demoralizing to come close to getting off the field only for the opposition to move the sticks. Maybe it’s because the Steelers set the bar high with the league’s No. 1 third-down defense through the first three weeks.
Whatever the reason and no matter how much blame you want to assign it, the Steelers’ defense simply can’t get off the field on third down. In their losses to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4 and Dallas Cowboys in Week 5, the opposing offense has gone an incredible 17-of-30 on third down against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s converting over 56 percent of the time.
To put that in perspective, if that number held true for the entire season, it would make Pittsburgh the league’s worst third-down defense by several points over the current-worst New Orleans Saints, sitting at 53.2 percent heading into their Monday night game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Not only are the Steelers allowing these conversions, they’re allowing them from long range. The Colts and Cowboys were a combined 9-of-16 on 3rd and 6-plus, converting at virtually the same 56-percent clip. The farther offenses get from a first down, the less success they should have. Not the case the last two weeks. Indy went 6-of-10, Dallas finished 3-of-6. Factor out the draws and give-up plays, and that percentage is truly even higher.
When the Steelers aren’t getting their souls crushed on third-and-long, they’re allowing the big play. On five of those 17 conversions, nearly 30 percent of the time, Pittsburgh allowed either a touchdown or gain of 25-plus yards. The Colts had two, the Cowboys had three. Here’s a look at them, ugly as they are.
Clearly, it’s not the standard. Pittsburgh is working so hard to put offenses in what should be difficult situations and then folding on third down. They’ve had communication issues and been out-schemed, the Cowboys able to hit seams and beat the Steelers’ two-high safety looks with repeated ease.
A one-game blip on the road against the Colts with a quarterback change can be explained away. But back-to-back games with the latter coming at home? Crowd noise is a factor for the defense at home considering the crowd wants to get loud for the opposing offense but still, these issues shouldn’t happen on home turf. There are plenty of news faces to this secondary but it’s a veteran group overall that didn’t show these growing pains early on.
It’s just not acceptable. For any defense, even a bad one, much less a competitive Pittsburgh unit that can still prove its strength. Part of the reason why the Steelers’ defense had success the first three games was because it played fresh. The offense sustained more drives, which always helps, but the Steelers’ defense was also getting stops and getting off the field. In the first three weeks, the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, and Los Angeles Chargers combined to have 17 drives of three or fewer plays. The Colts and Cowboys over the last two? Just four, Indy with three and Dallas with only one last night.
By game’s end, with injuries mounting and the night spilling into Monday morning, the Steelers’ defense was gassed. And looked every bit of it.
Third-down failures are at the top of my list to get corrected. They are not the only thing. The Steelers can’t run the ball and they can’t create big plays. I get that. But defensively, this is an alarm bell that popped up out of nowhere. Regression to the mean and law of averages says the Steelers will bounce back over the next couple of weeks, but this can’t be an issue again throughout any period of the rest of the season. Or it’ll lead to another losing streak.
