The Steelers defense was ‘leaky’ toward the end of the game but made the necessary plays to secure victory
As I stated previously, the Steelers do not generally squander a double-digit lead heading into the fourth quarter, but that is exactly what almost transpired. For three-quarters of the game, the defense played ‘lights out’, keeping the Bears offense out of the end zone.
When the fourth quarter arrived, it was as if the Steelers forgot how to play defense. Yes, seven of the twenty-one points the Bears scored in the fourth quarter came as a result of a fumble on a punt, but after Chris Boswell kicked a fifty-two yard field goal to increase the lead to six points, the defense gave up a 75-yard drive to allow the Bears to take the lead.
That simply cannot happen, particularly on Monday night at home and especially in a game that the Steelers were dominating up to that point. I don’t even want to think about the repercussions had we lost that game, but, suffice to say, they would have been significant.
True to form, the Steelers ‘D’ made the necessary plays late in the game to secure victory, but we gave up way too many yards for my liking, 414 to be exact. With that said, we won, we generated three sacks and we were able to nab one INT, thanks to Cam Heyward.
Let’s take a look at what else we learned.