It’s the highest-paid defense in the NFL, and it has several big names on that side of the football. The performance on that side of the football is starting to match the hype for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now they’ll get a shot at proving it on the national stage in a primetime matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football.
In the last three weeks, the Steelers’ defense has generated 17 sacks and has taken the ball away a number of times. They’ve shown the ability to be the best defense in football.
For Bengals’ wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, the Steelers’ defense will present a significant challenge, even though there is some familiarity there.
“The whole team is stacked, if I’m being honest,” Chase said of the Steelers’ defense, according to video via the Bengals on X. “Every position is stacked on their back end from the linebackers to the d-line. They got a lot of skill players over there. But upfront definitely speaks out the most because they [are] the ones that get the ball out the fastest for us.”
The Steelers’ defense is stacked. There’s no denying that. They made many changes this offseason, particularly in the secondary, and feel like they’re a much better team for it.
Those secondary changes this offseason were made with one team in mind: the Bengals. Joey Porter Jr. stated earlier in the week that the Steelers are built to defend the Bengals, led by Chase. So we’ll see if that is the case Thursday night.
It’ll all start up front, though, for the Steelers. If the pass rush can get after 40-year-old Joe Flacco, it will disrupt his timing and ability to get the ball to the likes of Chase and Tee Higgins.
But if the Bengals’ offensive line holds up, that will put a ton of pressure on a guy like Jalen Ramsey. He must be the piece the Steelers acquired him to be for this matchup.
Chase knows just how good Ramsey is and what type of challenge he’ll present.
“Very veteran-like. You could tell he watches a lot of film just by how he plays,” Chase said of Ramsey. “But he’s a good overall defender. He’s very versatile, does everything. So he’s definitely somebody they wanted on their team.”
The Steelers made it an emphasis to get Ramsey this offseason. So far, he’s been exactly what they expected. He showed up in a big way on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns with two sacks, achieving something he’d never done before in his career.
Now, they’ll see if he can be the true answer against a guy like Chase that the Steelers believed he could be when they made the aggressive move to land him in the trade.
