Steelers defense steps up to the plate vs Browns in Week 8

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns on the road in Week 8, but here’s why the defense deserves so much credit. 

A struggling offense has been the story of the year so far for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact, that’s been the story since the second half of the 2020 season. Prior to facing the Cleveland Browns in Week 8, Mike Tomlin’s team has been able to muster up just 19.5 points per contest over their last 12 games dating back to last year.

Offensively, their performance against a division rival this week wasn’t any better. Despite managing 115 yards on the ground, Ben Roethlisberger and company were able to muster up just 15 points in this contest. Fortunately, T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers defense really stepped up to the plate in the 15-10 victory.

Watt was remarkable in this contest. The former Defensive Player of the Year candidate and First-Team All-Pro was constantly involved in the action. He finished the game with 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss, 3 quarterback hits, and a huge fumble recovery in the fourth quarter, via ESPN.  Somehow though, his stats don’t even tell the whole story.

Though Cleveland has one of the best rushing attacks in the league, Pittsburgh’s defense was able to hold them to just 96 yards on the afternoon and just 3.8 yards per carry to All-Pro running back Nick Chubb. In addition, quarterback Baker Mayfield managed only 225 yards through the air and was sacked 4 times — resulting in a modest 86.1 passer rating from Baker Mayfield.

Tomlin’s team now advances to 4-3 on the season — their first winning record since starting the season 1-0. However, this team clearly has some big concerns on the offensive side of the ball moving forward.

Steelers offense has some major concerns

I don’t want to be all ‘doom and gloom’ after a Steelers victory, but this isn’t one that should give us a huge boost of confidence. Obviously, it’s encouraging to see the defense perform so well, but it’s equally as concerning that the offense wasn’t able to put many points on the board.

Despite being able to move the chains, drives seemed to stall for the Steelers, and losing kicker Chris Boswell with an injury that occurred on a fake field goal didn’t help.

As has been the story dating back to last season, Ben Roethlisberger deserves some of the blame for the lack of offense in Week 8. While this certainly wasn’t his worst game of the season, it was yet again far from spectacular. Even with a 50-yard catch and run from Diontae Johnson to seal the game with under two minutes left, Ben had just 266 passing yards on the day and 1 touchdown. He also should have had an interception in the second half while throwing to Johnson in triple coverage — a throw that potentially could have cost Pittsburgh the game.

In addition to some struggles from Ben and Pittsburgh’s inability to convert on third downs, there was some questionable play-calling in this one — specifically the decision to run a fake field goal in the first half.

There is a lot I will have to dive into when going back to the film, but a win is a win and we will take it how we can get it. Regardless, it’s encouraging the defense to put up their dukes on the road this week. If T.J. Watt and company continue to play like that, the Steelers will be able to stick with most teams this year.