Is our defense better?

They had one with Watt. They may have one again whenever he returns. Getting Wallace back would help a lot, too.

 

Miles jack
Has made us a better team and bush in contract year made him better. Db still a little sketch especially with injury. Without Watt, don’t know how much of a drop off we will have but still so far so good

 

Yep.


I asked the 2019 Steelers how they felt. Got taxed out by Week 12 or so.... and that was a 16 game season. Now it is a 17 game one.

No way in hell they can continue.

 

Shutouts rarely happen these days, there are no dominant defenses in the NFL.

 

They gave up 13, 17, 17, and 16 points in Weeks 13 through 16 in 2019, so they certainly worked through being taxed. They were absolutely out of gas by the finale against Baltimore, though.

I do agree with the overall point. The 2022 team needs to find a running game and they need to start converting some third downs so they can possess the ball enough to take at least some heat off that defense.

 

I was encouraged by how they did against the run, but that said it kind of baffles me that the Bengals threw as much as they did.

 

They have Burrow throwing to Chase and the Steelers' secondary was shaky even before they lost Wallace. Also, the Bengals were down by 14 points early in the game.

 

‘they were down early because they kept throwing. Had all they’d done was run up the gut every play, they would have accomplished more

 

That is your opinion, but it isn't supported by the facts. They averaged 3.9 yards per carry in the game, but that was boosted by two long runs. Mixon broke a 31-yarder on that fourth-and-one and Burrow had a 23-yard scramble. On their other 32 carries, they gained 79 yards, an average 2.47 per carry. So no, they couldn't just pound it into the line every play. Also, no team with Burrow and Chase should ever try such a strategy.

 

they don’t employ that strategy, and they give up 4 INTs, 1 fumble, 6 sacks, pick 6, and they lose. Thems the facts. Them facts are waaaaaay worst than what they did in the run game.

them facts imply they should have tried a different strategy, like running more.

It’s also fact Steelers had the 32nd worst rush D in the league last year, and the best pass rusher in the league who tied/beat the single season sack record. perhaps it’s logical to use them facts when coming up with strategy.

before the game started, all facts pointed to Cincinnati running up the gut, but they didn’t, and post game facts show they were dumb as **** with the strategy they employed (see facts in the first sentence).

 

Yes! For a number of reasons...

A) Alualu back... Terrific run stopper, even at his age...
B) Plus the addition of Ogunjobi and Leal, helps lessen the pain of losing Tuiit... Basically added 3 Guys!
C) Jack and healthier ( it seems ) Bush > Greater than Spillane /and year removed from ACL Bush...
D ) Austin/ Flores > Butler...
F) Young DB's Witherspoon/ Sutton / Wallace > last years Haden/ Layne/ Pierre...

That's a LOT of improvement in the overall Defense imo...Albeit, in a small sample size!

****** With Watt now being out for , who knows how long...And if he'll be his usual dominant self if/ when he does come back...Are gonna skew all I mentioned above, back the other way somewhat..It has to, You just can't replace the best Defensive player in Football!

 

Mixon had 27 runs and only 3 yards per run....Can't say they didn't try to run the ball

The 32nd run defense of the steelers was last year, this year is a new year and when you have Burrow, Chase, etc in your team and you are not able to run well and in addition you are behind in the scoreboard, awful idea to run the ball in front of a wall!

It also depends on the down and the distance but Burrow just didn't have his best game, the strategy was not bad.... The teams in the NFL pass around 60% now, so we can say the Bengals were balanced!

 

28 points in 9 games is absurd! Sounds like our offense lol

 

See Steelersfan43's post. They did try to run the ball. The Steelers did a good job stopping it most of the game. The Bengals were also trailing much of the fourth quarter. They had two drives to try to tie it up, one turning it over on downs and the other ending in the tying touchdown. They also moved the ball effectively in overtime, mostly through the air against a tired defense that no longer had the best pass rusher in the league.

The Bengals weren't going to turn into the Ravens and do nothing but try to shove the ball down the Steelers' throats. Their passing game is way too good to abandon it just because they struggled early, especially after the Steelers lost Wallace and then Watt. They weren't running the ball well enough to employ your strategy. This isn't 2021 and unlike last year's two games against the Steelers, the Bengals weren't going to win that game on the ground.

 

And Kazee too

 

True, though I was talking about the defense we saw Sunday. I would love to see what this defense could do with everybody healthy, but I'm not sure we will see that all season.

 

As long as Alualu is healthy, the defense should be able to stop the run most of the time. If Alualu misses anytime... we'll definitely see games like Vikings/Dalvin Cook from last year.

 

Shhhhhh. Not so loud.

 

Love me some alualulaululua

 

I believe in our depth and they actually rotated these positions well Sunday.

 

I love it

 

I really liked the d formations last game.

 

We were ranked 32nd in Run defense and were able to keep Mixon to 82 yards. Hell yeah the defense looks better.

 

Before iTJ's injury I believed our defense is better. We have better quality depth and if rotated properly we can improve our defensive ranking from last year.