The Pittsburgh Steelers invested heavily along their defensive line this offseason, drafting Derrick Harmon in the first round and Yahya Black in the fifth round. They also signed veteran Daniel Ekuale in free agency and were hoping for a third-year breakout from nose tackle Keeanu Benton.
Of course, another year with Cameron Heyward was expected to carry the group as a whole, too. But it didn’t start out all that well for the group. Harmon missed the first two games of the year with a knee injury, Black wasn’t able to carry preseason dominance into the regular season, Heyward was slow getting up to speed and Benton was largely a mess as a run defender.
It led to plenty of criticism, but in recent weeks the group has rebounded. In Week 9 against the Colts, the Steelers’ defensive line dominated. As former Steelers running back Merril Hoge said, the group didn’t lose a single rep, which is remarkable.
For Benton, who appeared on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show Friday, the issue early in the season was that the defensive line wasn’t setting the tone. Now, after Jalen Ramsey’s speech last week, the group is focused on setting the tone each week and getting back to that Steel Curtain mindset.
“Yeah, we’re always supposed to set the tone and I feel like we’ve been lacking in that area,” Benton said of the defensive line, according to audio via DVE. “And same with everybody in the room, we gotta produce more. I feel like we do our jobs, but you know, just the production wasn’t there.
“But when we all communicate and [are] confident in what we’re doing, we get out there and get after it for sure.”
The defense starts up front for the Steelers. They have to be able to win at the point of attack, control the line of scrimmage, and shut down the run game. When they’re able to do that, it turns the opposing offense one-dimensional, which then allows the pass rush to eat.
When the pass rush eats, it leads to turnovers, and good things happen for the defense. Early in the season though, that wasn’t happening and the Steelers were getting pushed around.
Benton received the brunt of the criticism as his run defense simply wasn’t good enough. In recent weeks though he’s rebounded and is starting to look like the player the Steelers thought they were getting when they drafted him.
Against the Colts, the Steelers set the tone defensively, putting the clamps on Indianapolis star running back Jonathan Taylor. Benton was a big part of that. The Wisconsin product had a 74.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, recording two pressures, one sack and three run stops up front.
It was an impressive showing, and now the key is to carry it over into Week 10 on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I think it’s just staying confident and not trying to do too much,” Benton said when asked how to continue the strong play. “I feel like we got another great game plan this week and being simple. Just going out there and playing Steeler ball again and being able to hit somebody in the mouth and make them actually play football.”
That should be music to Steelers fans’ ears everywhere.
The Steelers are far too talented defensively to have the issues they’ve had for stretches this season. They needed to get back to playing simple, smart football while bringing a physical presence. For one week at least, they did that against the Colts.
Now, the challenge is continuing it. Keep it simple, Steelers.
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