In wake of Steelers troubled offense, defense still dominant

As the offense is debated upon who should receive blame, we review the impact the defense was able to still have in Steelers 10-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The best thing NFL coaches can do is adjusting to their players’ skill sets and putting them in the best position to succeed. A rookie quarterback for the Steelers having to throw the ball 38 times, while his talented running back averages 5.0+ yards per carry on 8 carries is not how someone would logically accomplish this goal.

Also, considering the fact that the opposing defense happened to be the third-best in defending the pass on a per yards per game basis and has one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, Randy Fichtner has no excuse. Sadly, this event took place as Pittsburgh’s QB Devlin Hodges wasn’t able to lead the Steelers past the Buffalo Bills, taking all commentary away from the defense.

Coming to a common conclusion on who to exactly blame for the offense’s woes has disengaged fans and even analysts from what Keith Butler’s defense did. An important marker coming into the game that Mike Tomlin even made notice of it last week.

Steel defense still reigns

The Bills offense isn’t the most prolific, but the Steelers were able to defend to Buffalo’s 3rd-lowest total yard outing on the season along with Allen’s 2nd-lowest passing yards for a single game & RB Devin Singletary only averaging 4.14 YPC (2nd least in 2019) on 21 carries. This all came with having to worry about the Steelers offense turning the ball over 5 times, leaving the Bills with their highest turnover margin on the season (+3).

In addition, after surrendering 7 of the Bills 17 points in the first half, the defense was only better to close the game. Hard to imagine knowing the score differential between the two, but out of Buffalo’s 6 drives in the second half, only 2 went for more than 6 total yards. They would also score their other touchdown on only one of the two drives that went for longer, and the Bills knocked in a 36-yard field goal where they had a net gain of 0 yards on 7 plays.

Once again, even with 5 turnovers by the Steelers offense, the Bills only ran 7 more plays & won the possession battle by 4 minutes and 40 seconds. If statements were to be made, the hot seat has warmed up very quickly for OC Randy Fichtner.

The test was tough in of itself, but failing to clearly ignore what current tendencies would benefit the team most has become a developed trend that is simply making it more difficult for the offense to convert. Praises are deserving for the defense, and while blame can be pointed past Fichtner, it’s certainly the most alarming.