Behind the Steel Curtain
It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense has struggled mightily to begin the season. After allowing 32 points to Justin Fields and the New York Jets, plus 31 points to the Seattle Seahawks at Acrisure Stadium, the defense began to turn the page.
Pittsburgh forced five turnovers and allowed 14 points in New England to secure a 21-14 win. The Steelers compiled two fumbles with the Patriots inside the red zone, and began the game with a fumble recovery on New England’s opening drive. However, the defense is still ranked near the bottom of the NFL in every major statistical category.
Mike Tomlin’s defense is 29th in total yards (399.7), 26th in passing yards (246.7), tied for 27th in rushing yards (139.3), and 23rd in points (25.7).
The stats are nowhere near acceptable for the highest-paid defense in the NFL by over $20 million, and being paid over $160 million.
On Monday, Steelers beat writer Nick Farabaugh of Penn Live pointed out a troubling trend for the defense.
Identifying success rate for opposing offenses, the Steelers’ defense has the worst success rate on 3rd and 4th down of any team in the league.
The Steelers are allowing a 60% success rate combined on 3rd and 4th down, per Farabaugh. Pittsburgh is doing a better job on 1st and 2nd down, but the average 3rd down opponents are facing is 3rd and 7… and teams are still converting.
It’s not like the Steelers have faced the Bills, Ravens, Lions, and Buccaneers. The defense was pushed around by a quarterback the Steelers let go in free agency, Sam Darnold (who I’m high on), playing for his fifth team, and young Drake Maye.
New England converted 6-of-13 3rd downs (46.2%) and were 4-of-5 (80%) on 4th down. The Patriots were held out of the end zone thanks to multiple turnovers, but earned 369 total yards and ran for 119.
The Steelers have allowed over 100 yards rushing in each of the first three games.
Pittsburgh plays the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. EST. The Vikings offense will be led by Carson Wentz, with JJ McCarthy nursing an injury. Minnesota is 28th in the NFL on third down (31.4%), but scored 48 points against Cincinnati and went 4-for-12 on the possession down at home in the domination of the Bengals on Sunday.
