Steelers Week 4 recap: What happened to the defense?

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense was the best in the league. They were number one in total scoring defense, total yardage, and second in rushing defense. However, this week against Indianapolis was a different story.

The Colts put up more points in the first quarter than any of the previous Steelers’ three opponents had. Pittsburgh was allowing an average of approximately 70 rushing yards per game, and Indianapolis broke that number with only two drives.

An injury to Alex Highsmith, and defensive line struggles in Week 3 could be responsible for the setback. However, it wasn’t just the edge rushers and defensive line, the secondary allowed Pittman to have 100 receiving yards by the end of the first half, and 113 yards total in the contest. The offense was able to rebound towards the end of the game, the defense, however, gave up another 10 points in the second half.

Pittsburgh has a tough stretch of games coming up. However, the Steelers appear to have a small glimmer of hope for their Week 5 matchup, where their opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, may be without star player Micah Parsons.