Steelers may not be able to repeat key defensive stat from last season

The Pittsburgh Steelers tied for the league lead in sacks in 2019. Here’s why they may not be able to repeat that performance this season.

The Steelers made several moves to land some potential key contributors on defense this year. Steven Nelson was signed this offseason to help sure up the right cornerback position, and should be a welcome improvement over the frustrating combination of Coty Sensabaugh and Artie Burns.

Perhaps more importantly, the Steelers made a somewhat shocking move – trading up to the 10th overall pick to land Michigan star linebacker, Devin Bush. It stands to reason that he will present a noticeable difference on the Steelers defense, and should be an instant improvement over Jon Bostic at Mack linebacker from last season.

However, even with these promising acquisitions, there is something the Pittsburgh Steelers are unlikely to repeat on defense in 2019: their incredible sack total.

Pittsburgh managed a remarkable 52.0 sacks in 2018 – tied for best in the league with the Kansas City Chiefs. But despite their blitz-heavy defensive scheme and key defensive acquisitions this offseason, the Steelers are unlikely to see a total this high in 2019.

Sacks are a statistic that is impossible to predict. Over the past five seasons, they have had as little as 33.0 sacks and as high as 56.0. Despite this range, however, I expect the Steelers to continue to put up promising numbers in this area.

Keith Butler has his shortcomings on defense, and some of his defensive calls make me want to pull my hair out at times (like getting Bostic matched up on Keenan Allen for the final drive of a must-win game against the Chargers). But the one thing he has always done well is finding creative ways to get after the quarterback.

Pittsburgh’s defense is more talented on paper this year than it was in 2018. Perhaps Butler and his defense will surprise us by topping last year’s performance, but impressive sack totals are hard to repeat.