The Pittsburgh Steelers have been ripped apart in back-to-back weeks on defense, allowing 54 points and 819 yards of offense. They still lead the league in takeaways with 31, but outside of that, the defense could be highly overrated. If T.J. Watt doesn’t take over games, is this defense even that good?
Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan thinks the defense might be fraudulent.
“Their defense, is it really as good as we think? Last two weeks they’ve given up 61 points, 819 yards. Are we sure this defense is great? I’m not so sure,” Ryan said on Monday’s episode of Get Up.
The defense actually has surrendered 54 points, Russell Wilson’s pick-six against the Ravens was responsible for seven of the points, but Ryan’s point still stands.
The Philadelphia Eagles did most of their damage through the air last week, while the Ravens steamrolled the Steelers on the ground for a whopping 220 yards (5.8 yards per carry) in Saturday’s 34-17 loss in Baltimore.
All-Pro running back Derrick Henry had a banner day, rushing for 162 yards on 24 carries, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. Henry’s 162 yards rushing are the most by a Ravens player against the Steelers in Ravens history.
“We never controlled the run game,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game. “And when you’re not controlling the run game, you’re not going to have a sense of comfort in terms of the flow of it. And that was the case.
“We just didn’t do a good enough job. Gap integrity. Tackling. Fundamental things. They outperformed us in that area.”
Just like in Philadelphia, tackling was a major issue for the Steelers on Saturday.
Fixing the tackling problems will be a point of emphasis for the Steelers on their short week leading up to Wednesday’s meeting with the 14-1 Kansas City Chiefs.
“It’s concerning, certainly. We’ve got to be better,” Tomlin said on the missed tackles being an issue for the second consecutive week.
When asked how to fix that issue at this point of the season, Tomlin replied, “Back in the lab.”
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