The Pittsburgh Steelers allowed a Cincinnati Bengals team that entered Week 7 as the worst rushing offense in football to gain 142 yards on the ground and generate 6.2 yards per carry in the team’s 33-31 loss last week. RB Chase Brown broke off 27- and 37-yard runs in the second quarter, and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Thursday that allowing the big gains on the ground changed how he called the defense.
“We started out well…but then you start the drives giving up big runs, it kind of changes your mindset,” Austin said via Chris Adamski of TribLive on Twitter.
Austin reiterated that the defense needs to be better at making opposing offenses one-dimensional.
“Yeah, I think initially we got off to a good start and then you start the drives giving up big runs; kind of changes your mindset in that regard. It was in my mind significant in terms of how I went about trying to call the game, and so we just — you know, we know we have to be better in those areas because you look at the games that we haven’t performed well in, we haven’t performed well against the run. It carries over. So that’s been a big thing for us right now,” Austin said via transcript provided by the team.
“We have to stop the run. It’s as simple as that – we have to stop the run,” he said via Adamski.
Pittsburgh’s inability to stop the run has been a theme when the defense struggles. In all three games the Steelers have given up 30-plus points, they’ve allowed at least 117 yards on the ground. They let the New York Jets run for 182 yards in Week 1 and the Seattle Seahawks run for 117 yards in Week 2, including a 19-yard touchdown scamper by RB Kenneth Walker on 3rd and goal in the fourth quarter.
The inability to stop the run and the change in how Austin called the game also led to the Steelers getting burned by the Bengals’ passing attack. If they can’t stop the run, teams can exploit that and beat them through the air. It’s led to the Steelers having one of the NFL’s worst defenses this season, and turning around their run defense woes is going to be paramount for them to have to success this year.
It hasn’t been an issue every week. In Weeks 4 and 6, the Steelers held the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings to a combined 135 rushing yards on 37 attempts, just 3.6 yards per carry. Granted, against Cleveland the Steelers led for most of the game, which led to Cleveland throwing the ball more, but those two games are at least positives for the Steelers and prove that they can be effective when it comes to limiting opponents on the ground.
But success defending the run hasn’t been the norm this season, and that’s not going to cut it if the Steelers want to be a contender. Austin having to adjust how he wants to call a game on the fly because his defense can’t stop the run is a problem, and it affects every aspect of the defense. If the run defense doesn’t improve, the Steelers are going to continue losing winnable games.
