Even with a pitiful performance against the Chicago Bears, the Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn’t be worried about their defense until after this week.
Allowing 23 points to the Chicago Bears after basically leading the team for the first two weeks wasn’t pleasing. Some may have jumped the gun and declared the Steelers’ defense just as bad as last season. Other are chalking it up to playing down to the opponent, and the rest, are just kind of waiting it out.
Right now, the best thing to do is remember it’s only Week 4. At 2-1, Pittsburgh is still in great shape, and if they pull off a win in Baltimore, they’ll have a sound lead in the AFC North heading into Week 5.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Steelers didn’t play up to par in Week 3. Their atrocious run defense was worse than they’ve shown in a long time, and it seems that week after week they’re losing more and more players. But right now, there’s nothing to worry about.
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The Steelers pass defense is still coming together. If Sean Davis can play this week despite an ankle injury, they’ll be in full stride facing a Baltimore passing attack that has been less than impressive this season.
Artie Burns will take on Jeremy Maclin, and if successful, could take away their only threat through the air, leaving Joe Haden to shut down Mike Wallace. With Joe Flacco’s four interceptions, Pittsburgh doesn’t have much of a threat through the air and should be able to handle pressure for the most part.
Then, there’s the rushing game. The Ravens’ 427 rushing yards through three games is impressive. While it’s come from a committee of running backs, lead by Javorius Allen, it’s still a threat to a defense that was practically invisible to Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen last week.
While Allen and Terrance West are no Jordan Howard, they still pose a threat if this defense isn’t healthy.
Stephon Tuitt and T.J. Watt should be back after missing last week with injuries. For Pittsburgh, that’s a huge boost in both the pass rush and outside run support. The Steelers should expect some more pressure to help in the overall pass defense while runs backside could be stalhed heavily when Baltimore tries to run to the left.
Right now, it’s time to take a breath and wait this one out. Pittsburgh’s defense isn’t going back to early 2016 just yet. One bad game happens and until they start to see it effect them long-term, we can all bank on this just being a misstep.
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Baltimore is going to be different. This team is healthy, and for the first time practically all season, we could see the entire front seven in place, meaning this week is the first time we can really judge how well this defense is going to play this year.