The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers were in action, they were gashed by a historically bad Cincinnati Bengals rushing attack to the tune of 142 yards on 23 carries, leading to plenty of frustration after a 33-31 loss.
Stopping the run won’t get any easier in Week 8 on Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers star running back Josh Jacobs in an offense that is churning out 117.5 rushing yards per game.
The Steelers have made it a point of emphasis all week and know that if they want to have a shot to rush Green Bay QB Jordan Love at any point in the game, they’ll need to make the Packers’ offense one-dimensional.
For third-year defensive lineman Keeanu Benton, who appeared on The Christian Kuntz Podcast that published Thursday morning, it all starts with stopping the run.
“I feel like as a d-line, we’re confident in ourselves,” Benton said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “We feel like we got one of the best d-lines in the league, and we do want to get after that quarterback. So that opportunity comes when you stop the run.
“And we haven’t been doing a good enough job of that, for sure.”
The talent is certainly there for the Steelers. Cameron Heyward continues to play at a high level. And rookie Derrick Harmon has been as advertised since getting back into the lineup in Week 3 after missing the first two weeks with a knee injury.
As for Benton, he’s been one of the Steelers’ bigger issues up front. He’s struggled to get off blocks in the run game, has played with poor technique at times, and too often has gotten pushed around trying to defend the run. It’s been a domino effect with him.
Like the Steelers did against the Browns, the Bengals had a couple successful early runs to energize the o-line. Watch 75 here vs Heyward.
Their front five road that wave the rest of the game. Confidence matters.
Pittsburgh's run defense was really disappointing. pic.twitter.com/FxLNuorU9a
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) October 20, 2025
When Benton isn’t playing well at nose tackle, the rest of the run defense tends to struggle. When he’s playing up to standard and fulfilling some of his potential, the Steelers are able to keep things bottled up.
The Steelers defended the run well against the Vikings and Browns, but then they got a bit complacent against the Bengals and they paid for it. Now, they have to get right quickly against one of the better rushing attacks in football.
“I feel like it’s the same, bro. Stop the run,” Benton said of the d-line’s mentality this week. “Stop the run. And even if we won [against the Bengals], it’d be the same way. Throw the pass game away. Win or lose, figure out how to win the next one.”
It’s back to the drawing board for the Steelers when it comes to defending the run. They have to be much, much better, plain and simple. Confidence remains high for the position group though. We’ll see if that translates to the field Sunday night, or if the Steelers struggle to stop the run for a second straight week.
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