The Pittsburgh Steelers are the kings of the sack, one of the most important and vital plays a defense can make to help the team. The sack is huge. Not only does it lose yardage on a play, it also takes away a down and disrupts the chemistry between the opposing offense. Teams that give up too many sacks usually don't have enough chemistry between the offensive line and quarterback or just simply aren't good enough to take on the opposing defense.
Recently for the Steelers, the latter seems more likely to be the answer. Pittsburgh has been blessed with stouts on defense that not only can get to the ball, but can do it consistently and sometimes cause a coveted turnover. TJ Watt, Cam Heyward, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, Bud Dupree, Lawrence Timmons, and Stephon Tuitt are just a few of the stars the Steelers defense has featured this century.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 10: T.J. Watt #90 of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts to a defensive stop during the second half of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field on January 10, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Everyone knows this (at least I think everyone, because of how often it is mentioned), but the Steelers have led all teams in sacks for the past five consecutive seasons and have registered 50+ sacks in all five of those seasons. The Minnesota Vikings are the only other team in the NFL to have a streak of 50 or more sacks, and it started last season.
Not only do the Steelers have the most sacks in the NFL since 2017, they also have 31 more than the second highest team (Los Angeles Rams). To take it even further, they have more than DOUBLE the amount of sacks than the last place team in sacks in that time span (Steelers have 273, Las Vegas Raiders have 132).
The Steelers, along with the Arizona Cardinals, were the only two teams last season that featured multiple players with 10 sacks or more. Watt was one of these players, as he tied the single-season sack record (22.5) last season, and can break the Steelers sack record held by Harrison (80.5) this season. He has 72 sacks in just 77 career games.
Heyward was the other. He is top five in sacks in Steelers history (68), and had 10.5 last season without his co-star interior lineman, Tuitt by his side. Now, Larry Ogunjobi comes to the team coming off a career-high seven sacks, in the prime of his career at 28 years old to rush the quarterback alongside Heyward, Watt and Alex Highsmith.
Speaking of Highsmith, he is aiming for 10-12 sacks, and there is no reason to think he can't do that with the progression he's shown on top of the other stalwarts opposing offensive linemen have to defend against.
At this point you start to think, can the team reach 60 (!) sacks this season?
Before we go that far, let's think about this continued defensive success and who is responsible.
Let's keep it relatively recent. Since 2000, the Steelers are first in sacks with 986, with the next closest team 73 away (Philadelphia Eagles). In that time span, the team has had two Super Bowl wins: 21-10 in 2005 against the Seattle Seahawks, and 27-23 in 2009 against the Arizona Cardinals.
The 2005 squad allowed 24 or more points just twice that entire regular season, and limited all four playoff opponents to 18 points or lower with ALL THREE PLAYOFF GAMES ON THE ROAD! After a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at home that season, the team was 7-5 and at risk to miss the playoffs after a 15-1 season the year before. Instead, they locked up on defense and rode it the whole way to a Super Bowl victory as a six seed.
But, the 2009 defense was even better. The Steelers faced the most difficult schedule in over 30 years based on the last season's results, but still managed to go 12-4. Harrison was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year after leading a defense which set the standard for the league in nearly every defensive category, including sacks, total yardage allowed, points allowed, passing yardage allowed, first downs allowed, and yards per play, among others. This team allowed more than 24 points just once in both the regular season and playoffs.
PITTSBURGH, PA - OCTOBER 02: Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward #97 of the Pittsburgh Steelers smiles after sacking quarterback Alex Smith #11 of the Kansas City Chiefs as offense linemen Eric Fisher #72 and Zach Fulton #73 and linebacker James Harrison #92 look on during a game at Heinz Field on October 2, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Chiefs 43-14. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Give credit to the coaches, but the Steelers front office deserve a lot of the credit for these stellar defenses
At first, I assumed this had to be a coaching thing. Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin are both defensive coaches, and their experience with defensive plays and schemes on top of stellar coaching are still definitely reasons why their teams have been so good on defense. Cowher called all of the plays during his tenure, and Tomlin has called the defensive plays up until this season. Both of their teams have been near the top or at the top in sacks every year they've coached.
But even dating back to the 1970's, when sacks weren't even a recorded stat, defense has been the mantra. The Steel Curtain was the driving force of four Super Bowl wins. The Steelers have always been a defensive minded organization. Why score so many points when you can just limit the amount of points scored? Offense wins games, defense wins championships (I know Lombardi said it, but the Rooney's have to think it too).
Steelers GMs know it too. The entire front office, the coaching staff, even the players understand that in order to field a successful team, the defense needs to be elite and it has to get to the quarterback. It is the reason why the Steelers are tied for the league-lead with six Super Bowls and continue to be a force in the league. Every. Single. Season. DEFENSE.
What do you think, #SteelerNation? Do you agree with me that defense is the most important part of a football team and is the reason why the team has remained so competitive throughout all of these years? Are sacks one of the reasons why, or is it something else? Do you think this Steelers defense can lead Mike Tomlin to another winning season, or even the playoffs with the uncertainty at the quarterback position? Let me know in the comments below or @anthonyravasio on Twitter.
