PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - "Blitzburgh" has returned to the Steelers defense and with great success.
The come-at-you-from-anywhere-on-the-field defensive scheme, popularized by former coordinators Dick LeBeau and Dom Capers, was very much prevalent in the first two games this season. No team blitzed more (64%) than the Steelers in their wins over the Giants and Broncos. At the same time, their 10 sacks are tied for the NFL lead.
"It's been successful, but you can't get into a situation where you're blitzing all the time," said All-Pro defensive end Cam Heyward. "I think we have to make sure we mix it up, whether it's four-man or three-man rushing groups. That's just the flavor of the cake this week."
Coach Mike Tomlin downplays any significance to early-season numbers.
"A two-game body of work is not reflective of personality or intentions. I think that will be revealed over time. We've done what we needed to do the last two games to secure games and will continue to do that," Tomlin said.
Eight Steelers have been in on the sack parade.
"It shows that it's not just one guy doing the work," said Heyward, who split a sack with T.J. Watt in the Denver game. "We like to do this as a collective unit. When one guy gets the sack or the pressure it's usually because we have a lot of other guys doing their jobs."
Not surprisingly, Watt leads the team with 2.5 sacks, all coming against the Broncos and earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. What may be surprising is that nickel cornerback Mike Hilton is next with two.
"Mike brings another element to the equation," Heyward said. "When you look around the league, not a lot of people can do what he does."
Heyward said there are times in the defensive huddle, Hilton and linebacker Vince Williams lobby for more chances to sack the quarterback.
"We have certain guys that love to be the blitzer, and those are usually the blitzers," Heyward said. "Sometimes we have to say 'calm down. We have to set it up'."
On Sunday, the Steelers will face Houston's Deshaun Watson. Heyward said if they can contain the Texans running game that will make it easier to pressure Watson, who's already been sacked eight times.