The Pittsburgh Steelers first team defense played the majority of the first half against the Detroit Lions in the final preseason game of the year on Sunday afternoon. The defense, for the most part, did its job in shutting out the Lions' second and third string quarterbacks, Tim Boyle and David Blough. Teryl Austin's unit forced two turnovers early and set up two field goals by kicker, Chris Boswell in the first half. They also batted down multiple passes and produced two sacks, one by Minkah Fitzpatrick and another by Delontae Scott.
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It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the defense, though. The Steelers had the worst ranked run defense in the NFL last year and Detroit in particular ran all over them last season in a game that ended in a tie. D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams, the Lions' top two running backs, were not on the field, but Jermar Jefferson managed to gash the Steelers on a 3rd and 17 for 27 yards on a draw play. It was a disappointing play to watch because the Lions repeatedly ran on third and long last season against the Steelers.
Jefferson and the other Lions managed 22 yards on the other 10 carries in the half, including a 7-yard scramble by Blough. The run defense overall was better and Cam Sutton bailed the defense out five plays later on the same drive with an interception. The Steelers cannot afford to give up backbreaking runs against teams with high powered offenses, like the Cincinnati Bengals: the team who the Steelers will face off against in two weeks.
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The next time the Lions touched the ball, they elected to go for it on a 4th and 1 from their own 25 and the heavily criticized, Devin Bush made a fantastic play to stop Justin Jackson short of the line to gain. The defense once again set the black and gold up in great field position. Last year, the Steelers could not stop Detroit, even though they knew it was coming by the second half. Seeing Bush bust in and shut down the play in a power set was refreshing.
T.J. Watt sustained what appeared to be a knee injury after T.J. Hockenson hit him low on a play late in the second quarter. It was a legal block, but Hockenson immediately apologized to Watt as he was clearly shook up. The former Defensive Player of the Year left the field under his own power, although Steelers fans everywhere were holding their breath. Thankfully, head coach, Mike Tomlin stated that if it was a regular season game, Watt might return, so it appears at this point that the injury may be minor.
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The Pittsburgh defense passed its first test of 2022 with a B+. The poor play defending the 3rd and 17 was the main negative of the first half. Otherwise, it was a rather productive first half for the starting defense. An interception and a turnover on downs is exactly what you want to see the highest paid defense in the NFL produce to help a struggling offense that did not get on track until late in the first half against the Lions defense.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Did you like what we saw from the defense against the Lions? Please comment below or on Twitter @thebubbasq.
