The defense, on the surface, did its part.
The Steelers surrendered just 16 points to Miami’s fierce offense, and did not allow any points after a precarious first half in which Tua Tagovailoa carved up Pittsburgh over the middle of the field at ease.
But there were also no turnovers forced by the Steelers, which saw four defensive backs drop interceptions, perhaps keeping them away from what is now a 2-5 start to the season.
“Miami made the necessary plays to secure victory, man, and, really, we didn’t,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “Oftentimes, particularly when's it's a defensive battle the way the game developed into, it's about who catches the interception opportunities and who doesn't. That's just kind of the lens in which I see it. The Dolphins caught theirs and we didn't catch ours.”
Miami intercepted Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett three times, including in each of the games final two drives.
“That's probably the difference in the game,” Tomlin said. “Sometimes when it's a one-score game and it's back and forth like that and the defenses are controlling it, defensive splash is ultimately the deciding factor.
“We didn't give our offense a short field by producing a turnover or two, and they did.”
The lack of splash plays aside, the defense performed well enough to win. And, from the locker room afterwards, there was a sense that the group came oh-so-close to truly flipping the game, but never did.
“That's definitely something that, as a defense, we could definitely help — the turnover ratio,” linebacker Myles Jack said. “If we could’ve come up with a couple of those picks the score would look different, the whole mood right now would be different.
“But you can't just blame it on one thing. There was a bunch of different plays that led up to things. That would be a cool ingredient to add to where we could definitely get some wins.”
Jack led the Steelers with ten tackles. But Pittsburgh, for a third time this season, failed to record a sack. This after having a 75-game sack streak broken in September of last year.
The defense was up and down, allowing big, chunk plays early before buckling down to pitch a second half shutout. That, combined with the win last week over future Hall of Famer Tom Brady and Tampa, has Jack sill with plenty of optimism.
“The confidence, that's the main thing,” he said. “It's one thing to have a bunch of guys out there, but when everybody can trust everybody and know everybody is going to hold down their spot and you just focus on your job, that's when special things happen. I feel like we're coming along. We're coming along.
“That's definitely something to build off of. I'm excited. I'm excited. I'm not quitting."