While the New York Jets defense received all of the praise and attention this offseason, and the Baltimore Ravens defense is now bringing up all kinds of nostalgia talk after their dominating performance Monday night, it is the Pittsburgh Steelers who may very quietly have the best defense in the NFL once again. I mentioned in every conversation that I had this offseason concerning how the Steelers would perform without Ben Roethlisberger that I thought people were severely underestimating this Steelers defense. This is the same defense that just less than 20 months ago was being compared to the greatest defenses of all time. Last year defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau saw the departures of two of his starters in Larry Foote and Bryant McFadden AND saw his two best players miss the majority of the season to injuries. How many offensive or defensive units in the league could sustain injuries to their top two players and still perform at a top 5 level like the Steelers did last year?
Now the Steelers not only have a healthy Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith back but Foote and McFadden have returned, Ziggy Hood looks like another good defensive lineman, and Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley have another year of experience under their belts. To put this in perspective, not only do the Steelers have the same personnel as they did in a historical season just two years ago, they are now deeper and have more youth sprinkled in the mix. The Steelers could play out the balance of the season with Dennis Dixon or Byron Leftwich at quarterback and still be in the playoff hunt with this defense. Once Big Ben returns, and obviously health-dependent, this team should be shooting for nothing less than a return trip to the Super Bowl. This defense should be simply that good.
On Sunday, the Steelers held Michael Turner to 42 yards on 19 carries, roughly 60 yards less than his average per game since joining the Falcons, and held the Falcons to just nine points despite the Steelers inability to sustain drives on the offensive side of the ball. This is no cream-puff offense either, as the Falcons finished 13th in the NFL last year in points at nearly 23 per game despite missing Turner for nearly half of the season. The only Falcon that hurt the Steelers was WR Roddy White, who the Steelers were happy to give up out patterns and not allow him to make the big play. White may have had 13 catches, but his longest was for just 18 yards. The Steelers also recorded two sacks and Polamalu’s wonderful interception that went for nothing after Jeff Reed missed the game winning kick in the final seconds. You would like to see a little more pressure on the quarterback, but all in all it was a dominating performance by the Steelers defense, something they will need again in Tennessee.
Here are some other observations as we look back at week one's win over Atlanta and ahead to the tough match-up at the Titans this coming Sunday:
* I have heard a lot more complaining than I expected over Dennis Dixon’s performance. I am not sure what fans are expecting out of their back-up quarterback. Hell, Dixon’s performance was better than that of at least 12 starters around the league this past weekend. Dixon finished 18-26 for 236 yards and one interception that halted a potential scoring drive. Dixon was solid but not spectacular and avoided making any costly mistakes in the second half of a close game. No question that Dixon missed a couple of throws to the outside, and I think that was the result of him deliberately throwing balls low to avoid interceptions, but had Leftwich or Batch put up the same numbers in a Steelers’ win I do not think for one second we would be hearing the same complaints. Dixon is not the second coming of Dan Marino, but I thought there were some positives in the way he threw the ball. Now the Steelers need to incorporate the use of Dixon’s legs into the offense to truly take advantage of his skill set.
* One of these days Hines Ward will have to slow down after all these years of physical football but if Sunday is any indication, this season will not be the one.
* I thought the offensive line played reasonably well. Dixon was sacked three times, but for the most part had some time to throw and the blocking on Mendenhall’s game winning run was phenomenal. Two of the sacks occurred back to back as the Steelers reached midfield trying to put together a game winning scoring drive. On the one, I thought it was Dixon who held the ball too long and the other looked like a full out blitz. Despite doing an ok job, the Steelers will need a big performance from this unit if they are going to go on the road and move the ball against the Titans, especially in the absence of left tackle Max Starks.
* I was initially very surprised by Mike Tomlin’s decision to attempt a 55-yard field goal near the end of the first half but after seeing Reed hit the upright I was absolutely fine with his decision. In hindsight of course the move was wrong as it cost the Steelers three points when the Falcons maneuvered their way into field goal position of their own and capitalized, but if your kicker can make the field goal, you have to go after the points in a game where points are scarce. Tomlin has to have faith in his defense to make a stop there if Reed misses, one of the few things they were unable to do on Sunday.
* Looking ahead to this week’s game with Tennessee, the match-up is a good one for the Steelers in terms of having to go on the road to face a quality opponent. The Titans offense is built around running the football, something that the Steelers just do not allow to happen. In last year’s meeting, Chris Johnson was held to 57 yards on 15 carries, his second lowest outing of the year, in a 13-10 Steelers win. Pittsburgh will be looking to play a very similar style game by focusing on Johnson, keeping the scoring low, and finding a way in the fourth quarter to win.
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