Steelers vs Vikings: Winners and losers from upsetting Week 14 loss

Steelers loser: the run defense

Simply put, this was one of the most pathetic performances that this run defense has ever put up. While Dalvin Cook is a premier running back in the league, he was coming off an injury and wasn’t cleared to play until late in the process. He was dynamic this week, and even when the team fielded a better run defense in the second half, Cook was still a wrecking ball.

At one point in the game, Cook was averaging close to 16 yards per carry. It doesn’t matter how good of a running back you are, allowing a runner to do that on a consistent basis is pathetic as a defense. Even after the Steelers “shored up” this unit in the second half, Cook was still exploiting the defense and finding easy holes to run through.

The worst thing about this is that the run defense being bad has been a consistent trend over the past few games. Even if Cook wasn’t going to be healthy enough to play, Alexander Mattison has proven to be a capable runner to this point. This defense had to be preparing for a heavy dose of the Vikings running the ball. It didn’t matter though, as this group was a key reason this team struggled so much.