The Steelers had just the 30th ranked offense in the league in 2019. Here’s how they can help out their defense this season.
Pittsburgh’s defense was remarkable in 2019. After a sluggish start to the year that began with allowing 33 points to the New England Patriots in Week 1, the Steelers defense gradually got better. Eventually, they finished the season 6th in points allowed, 5th in yards allowed, 1st in takeaways, and tied for first in yards allowed per play, according to Pro Football Reference.
While the takeaways are something that will be extremely hard to repeat, it’s possible that the Steelers defense could be an improved unit in 2020. But it’s not because they have immensely better talent on that side of the ball.
There is plenty of reason to believe that Pittsburgh’s offense could actually help out their defense this season.
To say that the Steelers offense was bad in 2019 was an understatement. After being 6th in the league in points per game and with Ben Roethlisberger led the NFL in passing yards in 2018, Pittsburgh’s offense spiraled out of control with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges at the helm – finishing 30th in the NFL in total yards.
Despite one of the league’s most dominant defensive units, a lackluster offense was enough to put a dagger in their season. Though offense and defense don’t appear to be related, there are three reasons to believe that the Steelers offense could help out their defense immensely in 2020: