Locked On: Steelers Big-Play Defense Shines

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave up 400 yards of offense to the Cleveland Browns on Monday night, something that the Pittsburgh offense hasn’t done since back in 2020. But the Steelers defense also unquestionably won the team the game.

The team got big plays in bunches from T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and the rest of the defense to cause six sacks, four turnovers, two defensive touchdowns and an upset 26-22 win over a divisional rival on Monday Night Football.

Alan Saunders joined Chris Carter on the Locked On Steelers Podcast to break down what makes the Steelers defense so good and so dangerous, especially when compared to the way a very talented unit on the other side of the ball played. The Browns locked down the Pittsburgh offense, yardage-wise, but were unable to come up with the kind of big splash plays that broke the game open for the Black and Gold.

RELATED: Taken Away: Steelers OLBs Watt, Highsmith Wrestle Victory from Browns

Chris and Alan also broke down the performance of the Steelers offense, and how much of the problems were the fault of Kenny Pickett, Matt Canada, the offensive line and others. They also talked about what it’s going to take for second-round rookie Joey Porter Jr. to get some more playing time, after another game that saw veteran outside cornerback Levi Wallace struggle.

Check out the full archive of appearances of the SN staff on Locked On.