Pittsburgh Steelers Defense Shows True Colors in Rebound Win over 49ers

For the second straight week, the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary struggled. But, fortunately for the Steelers, they still managed a decisive 43-18 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The home opener was the perfect time for Pittsburgh to rebound after its loss to the New England Patriots in Week 1, and it managed to seize the opportunity.

Like last week, the Steelers defense yielded significant yardage. But thanks to the strength of the Pittsburgh's ever-improving front seven—and the weakness of the Niners offensive line—they were able to limit the damage the 49ers could do on offense. 

Stat	Value
SF Yards	409
SF Pass Yards	298
SF Rush Yards	111
SF 1st Downs	27
SF TOP	36:59
SF on 3rd Down	7/17
SF in Red Zone	1/4
SF TDs	2
PIT Sacks	5.0

Though the 49ers put up 409 total yards and quarterback Colin Kaepernick completed 33 of his 46 pass attempts for 335 yards (or 298 after 37 yards lost to sacks), San Francisco scored just two touchdowns on the day. It was 1-of-4 in the red zone and 7-of-17 on third down, numbers that served to annihilate the 27 first downs earned on the day and the 36:59 time-of-possession advantage.

The credit goes to the Steelers defensive front, which won the battle in the trenches for nearly all four quarters on Sunday. Pittsburgh totaled five sacks—one apiece for linebackers Bud Dupree and Ryan Shazier, one for defensive end Cameron Heyward, 1.5 for fellow end Stephon Tuitt and .5 for linebacker Arthur Moats. The team also totaled eight hits (including sacks) on Kaepernick.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

This bend-but-don't-break approach may be the best and smartest one for the Steelers this year, as the team transitions into its new-look defense with many a wrinkle that still needs ironing out. There's no question that in many instances the team's secondary is outmatched; but that kind of weakness can be mitigated by a stout defensive front.

Stronger opposing offensive lines could pose a problem for the Steelers as the season wears on. But they must take advantage of situations such as these where they can manhandle lines and pressure quarterbacks with relative ease. At some point, the secondary may finally get to where the Steelers want it, but until that happens—and even when it does—keeping the foot on the gas up front will be necessary.

Don Wright/Associated Press

No defense wants to be on the field as much as Pittsburgh's was on Sunday, nor give up as many yards as it did. But opposing offenses can put up all the yardage they want if they cannot turn that into third-down conversions or points. What really matters, after all, is winning. There's nothing worth celebrating if the Steelers allow only 150 yards of offense per game if those 150 yards lead to multiple touchdowns and the Steelers having to play from behind.

Sunday's win is the silver lining on the dark cloud that was Pittsburgh's defense in Week 1 in Foxboro. At the very least, it gives the Steelers a defensive strategy to employ when the secondary continues to be a liability. A strong defensive front can hide—or at least make up for—a multitude of sins on the back end, as we saw against San Francisco on Sunday.