3 winners and 3 losers from Steelers 24-19 win vs. Cowboys

Losers: The Defense

While I was optimistic about the Steelers ahead of this bout, there were a fair amount of concerns as well. This seemed like a prototypical trap game for the Steelers, as the team was riding high off of a crucial divisional win and the Cowboys offense was banged up. Considering the pressure rate of this defense combined with their run-stopping ability mixed in with the Cowboys offensive line being as thin as it was, this was a game where the defense should have dominated.

Instead, the Steelers defense gave up 250 yards passing and over 100 total running. They had little answers for Gilbert, who made sharp passes every now and again which shredded the Steelers. They benefited from his relatively often bad pass, but they can’t expect to win games while their defense looks like that. As well, the Cowboys were surprisingly successful against the run. Considering the Steelers’ strongest suit on defense was stopping the run, to see Tony Pollard burst through holes was a disappointment.

As a whole, this group disappointed. The pass rush wasn’t what it should have been, the run defense was gashed, and the passing defense was shredded. Despite the turnovers, this unit was on the ropes from the moment the game started. Had those turnovers not gone the Steelers way, we would easily be having a different discussion this morning. The defense all around was bad, and it will have to be fixed before the Steelers play the Bengals next week.