The strength of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense was supposed to be in their front seven. The first three weeks said otherwise as they failed to turn their pressures into sacks. That all changed today with a barrage of sacks against the Minnesota Vikings.
Cam Heyward thinks that’s just the beginning for this defense.
“I think it was about time we had that,” Heyward said via the Steelers’ YouTube after their 24-21 win. “Week in and week out we’re getting better and better. Our communication, our stunts, understanding what our offense is trying to do. I think this was the first game we really stopped the run to an extent. And then that led to us really teeing off in our pass rush. Going forward, this is something we can replicate, but it’s gotta be done for four quarters.”
After recording five sacks a week ago against the New England Patriots, the six-sack performance against the Vikings confirms that the defense is finally turning things around. There are many factors why that is starting to happen. Perhaps most importantly, they are finally starting to finish plays.
Over the first two weeks, the Steelers turned 37 pressures into just three sacks. Missed tackles and poor gap discipline turned positive plays into negative ones for the defense. Since then, they’ve converted 47 pressures into 11 sacks.
That turnaround goes hand in hand with their run defense improving. The Vikings only mustered 70 yards on 20 attempts, including 12 yards from QB Carson Wentz on scrambles. They had far less pass-rushing opportunities when teams were able to run at will. It’s no surprise that the Steelers allowed just 119 yards on the ground, including 45 to Drake Maye, in Week 3 when the sack success started.
Finally, the performance of the offense can’t be understated. Or really the early-game performance of the team in general. The Steelers had a 14-3 lead this week and a 14-0 lead last week in the first half. They hadn’t pulled more than one score ahead of the New York Jets or Seattle Seahawks at any point over the first two weeks.
The Steelers didn’t start this season on the right foot defensively, but it’s more about how they finish. There are plenty of encouraging signs that they can finally reach their potential coming out of the bye week.
