The Pittsburgh Steelers had an extraordinarily bad run defense in 2021, ranking last in the league in both total rushing yards allowed and in rushing yards allowed per carry. In all, teams rushed for 2483 yards against them on 498 attempts, averaging five yards per carry, with 17 touchdowns.
It’s hard to avoid the feeling that ‘there’s no other way to go but up’ from such a truly bad season against the run. And this is a team that finished 11th, 14th, and 6th against the run in the three years prior to this past season—ranking 3rd in yards per carry in the year they allowed the 14th-fewest rushing yards.