4 takeaways from Steelers 27-24 win over the Titans

Steelers run defense doesn’t disappoint

One of the biggest questions entering this week’s game was how would the league’s best rush defense fare against the league’s top running back. It turns out pretty well.

Though there were a few times that it looked like Derrick Henry was going to bust free in the open field, the Steelers never allowed more than 17 yards on a single carry to a Tennessee running back.

Pittsburgh’s defensive line deserves a bulk of the credit. Stephon Tuitt had another terrific game against the run, as the Steelers combined for six stops behind the line of scrimmage. At the end of the day, Henry had carried the ball 20 times for just 74 yards (3.8 yards per carry). This was exactly the time of success the Steelers were hoping for on the ground.

Robert Spillane also deserves a good share of credit in his first NFL start. Though he was credited with just 3 tackles in this contest against his former team, he had a terrific tackle at the line of scrimmage as he took Derrick Henry head-on. Though the Titans still ended up scoring on this drive after a Minkah Fitzpatrick penalty, that’s the exact type of intensity we wanted to see from Spillane in his first full game.