The Steelers ‘D’ made big plays when big plays needed to be made
Early on, it looked like the Browns were going to just run away with the game, but, true to form, the Steelers defense stiffened and made the plays necessary to secure victory. Look, I firmly believe we have a championship defense that is just a few players away from being the kind of defense that teams fear.
It’s not as if the Steelers ‘D’ as it currently constituted offers opponents hope that if they turn the ball over, our offense won’t take advantage of it, or if they allow multiple sacks, our defense won’t gain confidence from those sacks.
Against the Browns, the defense was able to generate four sacks and one fumble that stalled a drive for the Browns late in the fourth quarter. Joe Schobert, the former Brown, forced said fumble and that was pretty much ‘all she wrote’ for the contest.
As I stated earlier in the conversation, the Steelers ‘D’ gave up some yards and some big plays, but we held the Browns to ten points in their stadium. That’s the mark of a championship-caliber defense.
Frankly, we will need that type of dominant performance for the remainder of the regular season if the Steelers want to be in the playoff conversation. Let’s take a look at the third thing we learned.