The Pittsburgh Steelers are way behind their typical pace for sacking the quarterback in 2024. Look no further than T.J. Watt lagging behind the pack as an indicator of the overall group’s production. He has led the NFL in sacks for three of the last four seasons and is tied for the 13th most sacks through 11 games with just 7.5. Part of the problem is that the Steelers’ four-man rush is no longer working.
Former NFL GM Doug Whaley says it’s time to change things up.
“We talked about this a long time ago. Why not have them, like back in the Dick LeBeau era, all four of ’em standing up and just roaming around. You don’t know who’s coming,” Whaley said Wednesday via 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show. “Throw some indecisiveness, not only in the offensive line of who’s coming, but also in the quarterback because just being stagnant there, you’re not that good anymore.
“It’s been proven against backup tackles and a backup quarterback in Cleveland. You’re just not that good anymore. So now it’s time to do something different.”
I wrote about the possibility of the inside linebacker blitz coming back to Pittsburgh in the offseason. It seemed so obvious to me. Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, and Elandon Roberts are all extremely capable blitzers with a proven track record of doing so. Queen and Roberts in the NFL, and Wilson in college. The Steelers really haven’t gone down that road much besides the occasional wrinkle, preferring to send four and cover things up on the back end.
There is definitely some merit in winning with four and not inevitably leaving something open with an extra man being taken out of coverage, but the Steelers simply aren’t getting home enough. The Steelers have just 25 sacks, which is 24th in the NFL. They are on pace for roughly 39 sacks, which would be their lowest total since 2016 and lower than in 2022 when Watt was injured for most of the season.
The Steelers used to regularly lead the NFL in sacks as a team, and they should be in the upper echelon this season given their talent and how highly paid the unit is.
Here is the Steelers’ four-man rush rate and their defensive-success rates when doing so, per TruMedia.
They are in the top 10 for how much they rely on the four-man rush, and their success rate is 11th. It isn’t awful, but keep in mind this is the highest-paid defense in the league.
Here is the Steelers’ usage and success for the five-man rush.
They are 20th in the league in using the five-man rush while their success rate is sixth. They are performing pretty well when they decide to bring an extra man, so why not increase how much they are doing that?
Something definitely has to change. How many times have we gotten excited about T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith going against backup tackles this year only for them to have lackluster performances? Teams are chipping Watt or outright double teaming him, but the Steelers are making it far too easy for that to happen. A running back can’t chip Watt if pressure is coming up the middle from someone like Patrick Queen.
As Whaley alluded to, you can’t have Jameis Winston easily converting on the most important third and long attempt of the game, and they certainly can’t make it so easy on fourth down like they did last Thursday against the Cleveland Browns.
