Steelers defense ranked best in the NFL by Pro Football Focus

Pro Football Focus rankings have the Steelers labeled as the number one defense at the halfway point of the 2020 NFL season.

The Steelers defense hasn’t quite seemed the same over the past two-and-a-half games. After destroying the Cleveland Browns at home, the Steelers were up 24-7 against the Titans at halftime before they allowed Tennessee to crawl back into the game. From there, Pittsburgh’s defense faced some struggles against the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys – particularly on the ground.

Mike Tomlin’s team surrendered a combined 409 rushing yards over the past two games. While the Steelers did hang on to win both contests, these were games that came down to the wire. In fact, they nearly had identical finishes, with pass breakups from Minkah Fitzpatrick as time expired to seal the win.

Despite their recent struggles, Pro Football Focus has Pittsburgh defense ranked the best in the league, and top seven in every major statistical ranking:

Can the Steelers stay on top?

There have certainly been moments this year where it didn’t look like the Steelers have the best defense in the league. This was on full display against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9. Pittsburgh was exposed by an otherwise lackluster Cowboys rushing attack, and their pass defense was shredded early in the game by Dallas’ fourth quarterback this year, Garrett Gilbert.

The poor run defense could have something to do with nose tackle Tyson Alualu being out for most of the past two weeks, but we certainly can’t blame it all on that. As far as the secondary is concerned, there really is no excuse to get picked on by a quarterback in his first NFL start since joining the league back in 2014.

Realistically, Pittsburgh was probably exhausted entering their third straight road game (thanks to a scheduling change and an early bye week due to positive COVID-19 tests from the Titans back in Week 4). The Steelers have now played 5 straight games, and they will play a total of 13 straight games without a break by the season’s end.

However, even after being robbed of their midseason bye, there is plenty of reason to believe this team could finish as the best defense in the NFL this year. Pittsburgh has arguably the best defensive line in the league. T.J. Watt is a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate in 2020, while Stephon Tuitt is playing at an All-Pro level.

Though Pittsburgh’s secondary isn’t playing as good as it did last year, players are still creating takeaways and Minkah Fitzpatrick has stepped up his game in recent weeks. This unit still has time to turn things around.

Overall, Pittsburgh has an incredibly talented offense, and their investments on the defensive side of the ball are really paying out. Let’s hope they can continue to improve as the season goes on.