Last week, I wrote a “thoughts and observations” article on the offense from Pittsburgh’s preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks. This week, my attention is on the defense and its performance in Saturday night’s 16-15 win over Jacksonville in preseason game number two.
1. Run Defense
Seattle gashed the Steelers for 159 rushing yards on 26 carries, an average of 6.1 yards per attempt. Per Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, Pittsburgh was the worst defense in the NFL last week in terms of yards-per-first-contact against the run. This means they contacted Seattle running backs further beyond the line of scrimmage than any team in the league.