As is tradition in western Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Steelers are enjoying another elite defensive season. Through six weeks, Pittsburgh ranks second-best in the NFL with 14.3 points per game allowed. Across their four victories, Pittsburgh has allowed only 9.8 points per game.
However, the Steelers are only 10th in defensive DVOA, a metric that aims to capture play-by-play efficiency while adjusting for opponent quality. While that is still good, it is not nearly as elite as their rank in points per game. This is largely because the Steelers have benefited from facing the NFL’s fifth-easiest schedule of opposing offenses based on DVOA.