Before the season began, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense touted themselves as being one of the best units in the league. Through six games, they’ve been anything but that. Their Week 7 showing against the Bengals was probably the worst of the season. At this point, Steelers beat writer Ray Fittipaldo thinks they’re running out of excuses.
“The excuses early in the season, like well, we don’t have Derrick Harmon, Joey Porter’s not here, DeShon Elliott’s banged up. Those were the excuses to pass off what happened with the Jets and the Seahawks. What excuses are there now against the Cincinnati Bengals?” Fittipaldo asked Saturday, speaking on WMBS Radio.
No matter how you view it, the performance was bad across the entire defense. Considering the offense they were playing against, it’s even harder to wrap your head around. The Bengals were one of the worst rushing teams in NFL history before Thursday, rushing for 340 yards through their first six games, an average of just 56.6 yards per game. Throwing the ball, they had a quarterback who struggled in Cleveland and had only had a couple of practices with his new receivers.
And yet, the Steelers allowed 470 yards of total offense. Flacco threw for 328 of them with ease. The Bengals also had their best game on the ground this entire season with 142 yards. Chase Brown alone ran for 9.8 yards per carry.
Obviously, all of that is bad. And while the Steelers’ defense improved before Thursday’s game, their inability to get off the field on third down worries Fittipaldo.
“When Dick LeBeau was the coordinator of this defense, you had a team in 3rd and 10, or 3rd and 14, you knew there was a turnover or a punt coming,” Fittipaldo said. “You get into 3rd and 10 or 3rd and 14 against this defense, you’re starting to wonder how the offense is gonna convert. That’s just where we are right now. There’s no confidence they’re gonna be able to get off the field.”
The Steelers had similar problems in their first game against New York. Then, the defense was able to stand strong on the last drive and close out a win. That wasn’t the case on Thursday. The Steelers took the lead late in the fourth quarter. The defense had a chance to right some of its wrongs with a game-winning stop. If they had gotten it, we’d be having much different conversations right now.
They didn’t, and it’s continuing a worrying trend from the Steelers’ defense. Whether it’s bad coaching, a lack of effort or just poor play, there is way too much talent on this unit for it to be as bad as it is. Something’s got to change, and fast.
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