Steelers' Pass Defense Could Derail Pittsburgh's Postseason Aspirations

The Pittsburgh Steelers came away with a big victory over the Cleveland Browns, 30-9, in Week 10. Pittsburgh's offense moved the ball masterfully, even with the injured Ben Roethlisberger having to take the field for Landry Jones, who went down in the first quarter. Though the Steelers went 3-of-10 on third downs and 1-of-6 in the red zone, they still managed to put forth their sixth winning performance of the year.

But there has been an unsettling development on defense over the Steelers' past two games, one that could negate all the good things the offense has managed to put forth: way too many yards given up to opponents' passing games.

Four times this year, including Sunday, the Steelers' defense have given up over 300 passing yards. While the first two—against the San Diego Chargers' Philip Rivers and the Arizona Cardinals' Carson Palmer—were bend-but-don't break affairs, last week's contest against the Oakland Raiders came down to the final play of the game. And this week, the Steelers gave up 372 passing yards to the highly inexperienced Johnny Manziel.

Player	Yards
Manziel (Pass)	372
Benjamin (Rec.)	113
Hartline (Rec.)	77
Hawkins (Rec.)	69
Barnidge (Rec.)	65

That the Browns only came away with nine points on Sunday is impressive. So were the six sacks of Manziel by Pittsburgh's defense. But the 35 points allowed to Carr's Raiders in Week 10 plus the nearly 400 Manziel passing yards reveal a significant problem for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh is firmly in the postseason hunt, currently penciled in as one of the AFC's two wild card teams. But the remaining schedule is a tough one. Following their Week 11 bye, the Steelers take on the Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and the Browns again—all teams that have highly competent quarterbacks under center. 

Add to that the fact that after Sunday the Steelers defense is now giving up an average of an even 300 passing yards per game, and there could be tough sledding ahead. A number of those teams don't have the same scoring issues that the Browns have, so the Steelers may not be so lucky to limit them all to single digits in their upcoming meetings.

The pass coverage, particularly in the secondary, has been a point of weakness for the Steelers all year. They've been able to make up for it at times with an effective pass rush, but even that couldn't hold Manziel back on Sunday. And given that the Steelers managed zero sacks of Carr a week ago, it's clear that the better-protected quarterbacks they will be facing to close out the year could have field days against such a defense.

It's obvious that Pittsburgh's offense is capable of scoring a lot of points and putting up a lot of yards. But so are many of the offenses they will be seeing in Week 12 and beyond, and that won't let up should Pittsburgh still remain on the playoff track. On Sunday, Pittsburgh allowed receptions of 61 yards (Travis Benjamin), 21 yards (Brian Hartline), 17 and 18 yards (Gary Barnidge) and 20 yards (Taylor Gabriel).

Team	Pass Yards/G
@ SEA	213.6
vs. IND	252.4
@ CIN	270.8
vs. DEN	257.4
@ BAL	258.0
@ CLE	289.9*

These large chunks led to four Browns trips to the red zone. The Browns converted only one, but that's not going to be the case against Peyton Manning or Andy Dalton. That the Steelers have overcome so many moments in which they've seemingly set themselves up to fail does not negate that they've put themselves in those positions. 

What matters most immediately is that the Steelers dispatched the Browns and go into the bye in good shape as far as their postseason hopes are concerned. The offense has done quite a bit to cover up the defense's shortcomings.

But the quarterbacks the Steelers will be facing ahead know that they can exploit Pittsburgh's coverage and are more than capable of doing so. Points may not be at a premium for their remaining opponents, so the Steelers must spend the bye trying to figure out ways to limit their passing yards in order to be—and remain—a playoff contender.