Steelers’ Tantalizing Defense Can’t Rely On Patriots Performance

Putting Pressure on Drake Maye

In the first two weeks, the Steelers felt like they hardly got to the quarterback. With their vanilla defensive scheme, opposing quarterbacks were very comfortable picking apart their defense. That script flipped on Sunday as Drake Maye never had time to make proper reads, getting sacked and hit a ton. 

Derrick Harmo, specifically making splash plays, was a huge help for the Steelers. The Steelers’ defense is facing a rash of injuries, so others will have to step up. In his first game, Harmo made his presence felt on a limited snap count.

While Opportunistic, Steelers’ Defense is Still Struggling

Brandin Echols made two plays that won the game — an end zone interception and the tackle on Demario Douglas at the end of the game to force the Patriots’ failed fourth-down conversion. Cameron Heyward directly caused two turnovers.

Cole Holcomb had a bigger role on Sunday, and the linebacking play looked better, though there are still several miscommunication errors that continue to happen. T.J. Watt had two sacks, and Nick Herbig continues to be a spark plug on the opposite edge.

The Patriots had two drives that were 15 plays or longer, which can be attributed to the Steelers’ incompetence on third down. The Patriots converted 6-of-13 third downs, four of which came on third and long, and they gained 11 yards on a third-and-12 that led to an easy fourth-down conversion. The Steelers’ continued inability to prevent teams from gaining big yards on third down is frustrating, and it very nearly cost them a win.

The good news for the Steelers is they are 2-1. The bad news is that their defense is too reliant on turnovers, still gives up a bunch of yards, and they are playing a Vikings team that just scored 48 on the Bengals next week in Ireland. If they put this Week 3 product on the field next week, they will lose convincingly.