The Pittsburgh Steelers have a new identity

Have the Pittsburgh Steelers returned to days of old once again?

It has long been known that the Pittsburgh Steelers were about great defenses and running the ball. Look no further than the Glory Days of Jack Lambert and Franco Harris. This has shown up in the 90s with the Dick Lebeau defense and Jerome Bettis. Well, now there is the new Steelers running and defense combination. Le’Veon Bell carried the offense Sunday and the defense was dominant.

The stats show the two succeeded as well. According to Pro Football Reference Le’Veon Bell rushed for 32 attempts and gained 179 yards on the ground. It was the ground game that led the Steelers offense. The Steelers were able to control the clock and keep their defense off the field. The defense also had a stellar day. According to ESPN, the Steelers held the Chiefs to only 251 yards of total offense. That includes only 28 rushing yards. The numbers were even more staggering in the first half.

This is what the Steelers have been known for, but this has not been their style in recent history. Last year, the Steelers put their team on the shoulders of Big Ben and hoped that he would score 30 plus points every game. They wanted to dominate in the passing game with Antonio Brown and then be able to run Le’Veon Bell. They depended on these two, star playmakers.

Now the Steelers do expect something from Antonio Brown and they have gotten it. However, the second and third passing options have been a question mark for the Steelers for the past two years. They are able to depend on their defense a little more this year. In fact, their defense is their strength and their offense is the unit that just needs to play well enough to win.

With the emergence of the Steelers defense, less is being put on the aging Ben Roethlisberger. He is certainly still the franchise quarterback, but they are not expecting him to throw the ball deep and around the field. Instead, they are simply looking for intermediate and short passes from Roethlisberger. He is starting to show signs of decline and now the Steelers must depend on the defense to get them to the Super Bowl.

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The days of relying on their defense and running the ball are as much their identity as before. It was really unique over the past four or five years that the Steelers depended on their quarterback to make them a winning team. After Ike Taylor retired and a generation of long-time Steelers had moved on, guys like Aaron Smith, James Farrior and Troy Polamalu, the Steelers struggled in the pass defense department. They frequently missed on outside linebackers after LeMarr Woodley declined as well. However, after years of drafting defense early, it seems the pass defense is back and the Steelers of old are back.