During the recent defensive resurgence, the Steelers have seen better play from their inside linebackers. But the defensive line deserves some credit, too, Teryl Austin says. They have tinkered with roles in that unit, but better play up front has also contributed to a turnaround. One factor was getting rookie Derrick Harmon on the field, who is already playing well.
“The play of our line up front with those young guys, getting those guys back in the fold and getting healthy up front, it allows [Payton Wilson] and PQ [Patrick Queen] to really run and show their speed,” Austin said of the defensive line, via the Steelers’ website.
Over the past two games, the Steelers have seen steady improvement against the run, attributable to improved play from the front seven, especially the defensive line. Their play, Austin argues, has opened things up for the inside linebackers to do what they do best.
“They’re run-and-hit guys, and you’ve got a chance to really see both of those guys run and hit last week,” he said of Wilson and Queen. “That’s kind of what I envisioned from our front going into [the year], and it hadn’t happened early in the season, but it happened, and I think we’re going to continue to get that going.”
Thanks to their draft investments, the Steelers had high expectations for their defensive line this season. They drafted Derrick Harmon in the first round and added Yahya Black in Round 5. Black has come down to earth following an impressive preseason, but is now growing into an NFL defender. Harmon, meanwhile, largely hit the ground running after missing the first two games due to injury.
The Steelers stuck Isaiahh Loudermilk into the defensive line in Harmon’s place. The pair of him and Black was not up to the task. Even with that said, it wasn’t just the defensive line’s fault for the Steelers’ early struggles against the run.
Recently, former Steelers defensive lineman Chris Hoke defended the team’s run scheme. He pointed to causes other than the actual system causing the problems. And last week, we saw the team actually execute those things better.
The result? They held the Vikings to just 70 yards rushing at 3.5 yards per attempt. Their longest run was an 11-yard scramble by QB Carson Wentz. The Steelers’ defensive line plugged up the middle, and the inside linebackers raked.
Payton Wilson finished the game with a career-high 13 tackles, including two for loss. Patrick Queen contributed another 11 tackles, adding three for loss in his case. Thanks to the Steelers’ defensive line, they had less traffic to wade through and were able to exploit their athletic and diagnostic assets as the team envisioned for them. Now, on the other side of the bye, they have to continue building on that foundation.
