T.J. Watt didn't mince words when asked how the Steelers, from a defensive standpoint, can help turn things around after an 0-3 start to the season.
Watt, Pittsburgh's Pro Bowl outside linebacker, spoke to the media a day after the Steelers' most recent loss, a 24-20 letdown in San Francisco.
"Stop the damn run," Watt said. "No. 1, stop the run."
Watt isn't wrong. Pittsburgh, a traditionally strong team against the run, is currently 28th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. They allowed San Francisco to rush for 168 yards and two scores on 40 carries. The previous week, they allowed the Seahawks to amass 151 yards and a score on 33 carries in Seattle's 28-26 victory at Heinz Field.
There are several reasons why the Steelers' rushing attack isn't as formidable as it usually is. The biggest reason on Sunday was the absence of Vince Williams, the team's "thumper" at the inside linebacker position who was out with a hamstring injury. Playing in place of Williams was Mark Barron, the former safety who is better in pass coverage.
Opposing teams are also sticking with the run against the Steelers while using their passing game as a secondary means of attack. While they're in the bottom five in league standings in rushing yards allowed, they're tied for 18th in yards per carry allowed (4.1). While that's not a terrible number, Watt and and his teammates are surely looking to drop their average to under 4.0 yards per carry in the coming weeks. The Steelers especially need to stop the run on first down, something they struggled to do throughout this past Sunday's game.
Defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who leads the Steelers with 3.5 sacks, didn't completely agree with Watt when asked the same question about Pittsburgh's defense.
"We have a lot of good guys on that defense," he said, "so it's not just stopping the run, but just being dominant."
The Steelers' defense, at times, played like a dominant group on Sunday. They forced four turnovers in the first half, with rookie inside linebacker Devin Bush recovering each of San Francisco's fumbles. Minkah Fitzpatrick, acquired via a trade with the Dolphins last week, recorded an interception as well as a forced fumble in his Steelers debut.
"You just saw the plays that he made, right away," Tuitt said when asked about Fitzpatrick, who started Sunday's game at free safety. "He was an impact player. He came in right away with open ears. I think a lot of guys rallied around him, helped him. I think he was telling some of the guys what to do. I think he's a really smart player, and I'm glad to have him on our team."
Fitzpatrick, the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft, is confident in he and his teammates' potential as a defense after last Sunday's performance.
"I think we played pretty well on Sunday," Fitzpatrick told reporters this week. "I'm very comfortable with my teammates; we communicated very well. So I think, just moving forward, just keep growing with that comfortability."
While Sunday's game showed flashes of what they can do, the fact remains that the Steelers, at 0-3, aren't hanging their hats on potential. They need to start winning games, something that clearly isn't lost on Watt, who quickly shot down a question about the Bengals during Monday's media availability.
"Too early to look at Cincinnati," he said. "We're focused on ourselves right now. We're 0-3, we're not in any place to look ahead. We gotta look right now at who we are and how to fix what's happening, and that starts today, looking at film as a unit."
The film will show a team that has the pieces of a championship group. The Steelers' defense has nine former first round picks in defensive linemen Cam Heyward and Tyson Alualu, linebackers Watt, Bush and Bud Dupree and defensive backs Fitzpatrick, Joe Haden, Artie Burns, and Terrell Edmunds. While they're still learning how to play with one another, they also have to start winning games if they want to have any shot at catching the Ravens in the AFC North division standings.
They will also need to continue to help their offense, a unit that was the strength of the team just 12 months earlier. That means creating more turnovers and favorable situations for quarterback Mason Rudolph, who also showed signs of his potential in a losing effort this past Sunday in San Francisco.
"You have a young quarterback in there, a first time starter, you want to do anything to make his job a lot easier," Watt said. "Any way we can do that defensively, we're definitely going to try to do that. We just gotta do more of it."
