Steelers run defense continues to falter
Much has been said, and rightfully so, of just how bad the Steelers’ run defense has been in recent weeks. There has been nothing worth being excited about. The tackling is off, the banged-up defensive line can’t get a push, and the off-ball linebackers have struggled at filling gaps. All told, this defense has been historically bad during this stretch and is a major weakness for this team.
Luckily, Derrick Henry won’t be playing this game, so the Steelers will be tasked with stopping mediocre backups instead of the best runner in the league. While D’onta Foreman and Dontrell Hilliard have both found success this season, neither are great backs. Unless the Steelers make some significant improvements there this week, I think they continue to struggle against the Titans’ backups.
Of the two, Foreman is the lesser threat. While he is the perceived starter, Hilliard has the big-play ability that can burn this team. No, the Titans won’t have a Dalvin Cook-like performance on the ground, but I expect a long score from Hilliard and a healthy average from Forman. It may not be the worst performance of this group, but they still struggle to stop the run this week against some mediocre backs.