With an inconsistent season and some ugly losses, the Pittsburgh Steelers are fair for criticism. A passing game that doesn’t create big plays. A defense that can be hot and cold stopping the run. A head coach who is as conservative as it comes. This team is far from infallible.
But the most common critique coming off the Steelers’ signature win over the Indianapolis Colts is also the worst. Can they win without turnovers? That refrain has been heard from pundits, Ben Roethlisberger, and plenty of fans.
To answer it bluntly. Can they? Probably not. But that same statement can be applied to anything else any team does well. Can the Ravens win without Lamar Jackson? Can the Bills win unless Josh Allen makes big plays? Can the Colts win unless Jonathan Taylor is strong on the ground?
It’s such a low-brow complaint. Every team is built winning some kind of way. And taking that away of course harms the odds of winning. That isn’t special to Pittsburgh.
The reason why it gets cited to the Steelers more than those other teams is the underlying belief turnovers are lucky. The bounce of a ball. A freak play. To some degree, that may be true. Turnovers can be a game of inches. Pittsburgh nearly had a scoop-and-score touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings taken away by RB Jordan Mason grazing the ball while out of bounds.
But turnovers don’t start with luck. They are taught and instilled into a team’s culture. It’s something defensive coordinator Teryl Austin brought upon his 2019 hire. Something he doesn’t get enough credit for. More turnover circuit drills, more goal-setting, more intentionality. You get out what you put in, and with the mindset of taking the ball away, the results have followed.
The numbers are consistent. Since 2019, no defense has more takeaways than Pittsburgh’s 186. The next-closest has 177 and only five other teams are above 150. Year-by-year, the Steelers sit at or near the top.
Steelers’ Takeaway Ranking (2019-2025)
2019 – 1st
2020 – 2nd
2021 – 15th
2022 – 23rd
2023 – 9th
2024 – Tied-1st
2025 – 2nd
That’s no accident. You don’t “luck” and fall into that. And it’s not because Pittsburgh has featured a high-powered offense compelling teams to throw late with a greater risk for error. The only blips came in 2021 and 2022, the latter hampered by T.J. Watt missing half the season with his pectoral injury.
Takeaways are part of Pittsburgh’s theory of winning. In the modern NFL, teams are going to gain yards. They will move the ball. Forcing three and outs and completely minimizing yardage is a fool’s errand. The way to win is to fire back with defensive splash plays. Steal possessions, shorten fields, swing momentum, and knock teams off their game plan.
Will the Steelers net six of them like they did against Indianapolis? Of course not. But it’s reasonable to ask and expect multiple per game. Over that same 2019 span, the Steelers lead the NFL with 60 multi-takeaway games. Indianapolis sits second with 52.
The Steelers struggling without takeaways isn’t news. It’s applicable to the strength of any team. And it’s reasonable to believe Pittsburgh can keep its takeaways rolling given the talent the Steelers have assembled and the culture that’s been created. This is a feature, not a bug, and it’s not understood well enough.
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