PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – For as much as the offense was on blast for the first couple of weeks, there were some problems defensively. On Sunday we saw rush and coverage compliment each other almost the entire game in the Steelers 24-18 win at Las Vegas.
Steelers were able to get four sacks, while also getting four turnovers and most of those splash plays were not unrelated.
"We were trying to make it our best effort I think we did a good job of keeping them in duress tonight," said Steelers captain TJ Watt. "It helps when we have them in obvious passing situations when we can pin our ears back. Obviously when guys on the back end are playing as well as they were tonight. It helps to have that quarterback hold it for a split-second longer."
They had Jimmy Garoppolo running for most of the night, holding him to a 72.5 QB rating while Patrick Peterson got his first Steelers interception and Levi Wallace had a pair, including one with five seconds left to seal it. His first interception came in Steelers territory as did Peterson's.
"You know who we got on the D-line," Wallace said. "Those guys do a great job. I kept looking up and Jimmy was running out of there, getting sacked. Obviously, we have two of the best of the league at edge. Then you have guys like Markus (Golden) and Nick (Herbig) and the interior did great too."
It's not that Raiders All-Pro Davante Adams didn't get his. The 10-year vet had 13 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns (the fourth-and-one play action that beat both Wallace and Peterson and a one-yard TD late in the game). Over the three seasons prior to 2023, Adams has been an issue for everyone in the NFL-338 receptions, 4,443 yards, 43 touchdowns (twice leading the league). Wallace called him a 'dude'
Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said they weren't perfect by any means, but he thinks they took a step forward Sunday. They still have much to improve on, but were better. Better mostly against the run, of course it couldn't get worse as the Steelers were dead last in rushing yards allowed after two games.
"That was a point of emphasis for us," Peterson said. "We know we were kind of shaky the first two weeks. We knew we had another opportunity against a great back in this league. We knew they were going to feed him (Josh Jacobs) often and early because he didn't have the game that he wanted last week. We accomplished that goal."
Jacobs ran 17 times for 62 yards and no touchdowns. The NFL's leading rusher in 2022 had a longest run over 10 yards, this after the Steelers had given up back-to-back games of 65 and 69-yard runs.
"This is what we are capable of doing," Fitzpatrick said. "It's nothing new. It's really the standard to which we play. It's just the first couple of games. We are finding our identity, figuring out who we are and what we can do."
They are not yet living up to the lofty standards set for every Steelers defense, but they feel they are improving. Currently there are five new starters on defense, plus a new third safety, third middle linebacker, rotating nose tackle, back up outside linebackers, slot corner and dime corner. That's 12 players who at times will see significant snaps, that are new to the system.
Maybe it's just taking time. Maybe it's just that they played a Raiders team that had scored 27 points total the last two weeks. Sunday they'll face a Houston team that scored 37 points on playoff favorite Jacksonville, we'll see if they take another step.
