Steelers’ greatest concerns vs. greatest comforts after Week 10

Through the first 6 games of the season, Pittsburgh had one of the best run defenses in the league.

However, in recent weeks the Steelers have had issues stopping both facets of the game. Make no mistake, this defense is one of the best in the league. Yet, it seems as though the Steelers have been having issues challenging both facets of the game in recent weeks. Pittsburgh was able to handle Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ passing attack rather well.

Yet, the Bengals ran for 139 yards in Week 10 against the Steelers. What is concerning is what could have happened had they gotten a lead and been able to run the ball more. Their longest run of the day was 39 yards, but that came on a fake punt. They still averaged 6.6 yards per carry and that was really concerning, especially with how battered their offensive line is, and their featured runner Joe Mixon was also out with injury.

Tyson Alualu was inactive this week. That seems to be a huge issue, as the Steelers have still not found the answer from stopping the run up the middle. Time and time again they were getting gashed up the middle, and all of the Bengals’ big plays came from play action and keeping Pittsburgh honest. The Steelers can’t get him healthy soon enough, because if the game had started a little differently then the Bengals could have run the ball and kept the Steelers’ offense off of the field.