The Pittsburgh Steelers needed a win and a lot of help to make the playoffs. The Buffalo Bills did their part, but the New York Jets and Joe Flacco just couldn’t find a way against Skylar Thompson and the Miami Dolphins. The hole was too deep to dig out of, but Mike Tomlin and the Steelers sure tried. The Steelers finished 3-3 in the AFC North and are ultimately a TJ Watt injury short of the playoffs.
Sunday against the Cleveland Browns and the quarterback that they are counting on to challenge Joe Burrow as the best in the division, the Steelers defense reminded the division what they are capable of when they are healthy and ready to play. Deshaun Watson has faced the Steelers before, but never as a member of the Cleveland Browns. He found out that Steelers-Browns draws a lot more focus from the black and gold than Steelers-Texans.
The Steelers sacked Watson 7 times, and it could have been a lot more if they had finished a few tackles against the fleet-footed quarterback. The defense gave up a late touchdown after a highly questionable roughing the passer call on Cam Heyward. Watson was harassed all day escaping sacks constantly in the first half on missed tackles, but as the game wore on, he just couldn’t get away.
Pittsburgh added two interceptions, one each from Damontae Kazee and the other from Levi Wallace. The Steelers were also credited with 10 quarterback hits and when the game was still in doubt, Watson seemed hesitant to throw the ball and looked to run first. The former Clemson Tigers quarterback is an established escape artist who looks to pass off his scrambles, but he was unable to find anyone downfield while running for his life.
The Steelers’ 7 sacks got them to 40 sacks for the season, and it was the first time that they finished with less than 50 sacks in Watt’s career as a Steeler. It did however mark the sixth consecutive season that Pittsburgh cleared the 40-sack mark. The defensive performance should strike fear in the heart of every AFC signal-caller that if they are healthy and you double Watt, the black and gold are going to punish you for it and turn you over.
The Steelers aren’t getting any younger in the front seven and it will be important to provide quality depth for Heyward next season to maximize his 34-year-old motor. But with three of the top 50 draft picks, the Steelers are a lot closer today than they were in September to being a serious contender in the AFC. They are still built around defense and the performances against the Cincinnati Bengals in game 1 and the Browns in game 17 should alarm the rest of the NFL.
Defense wins championships and if Pittsburgh is going to effectively run the ball and score touchdowns with timely passing from an emerging franchise quarterback on a rookie deal, that formula still works. They aren’t going to win a Super Bowl playing 16-13 games, but based on the growth demonstrated Sunday, they will win a lot of 24-20 games with this defense and limited opportunities for offensive juggernauts like the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
The 2022 season didn’t end perfectly for the black and gold, but they are riding a four-game winning streak into the 2023 offseason and they are just a few tweaks away from making this a memorable year in Pittsburgh.
More must-reads: