1 sack through 3 games is quite a drought

to use fewer blitzes and get to the quarterback with a normal four-man rush this season. That just has not worked. They should have improved this season because their younger players in the front seven are more experienced, which includes Jarvis Jones, Bud Dupree, Stephon Tuitt and Ryan Shazier.

Dupree, their first-round pick last season, is out at least half of this campaign on injured reserve.

Tuitt generally has played well, although sans sacks.

Shazier, as an inside linebacker, is not a pass rusher.

Jones, playing a prime pass rush position on the outside, has shown he is not one, either.

Among the statistics the Steelers issue weekly are quarterback pressures, and they are not very good there as well. They have six.

James Harrison, 38, leads them with two. Jones has none.

Heyward, who led them with seven sacks last season, does not have a pressure, although his high ankle sprain may be holding him back, even if he will not admit as much.

Six pressures on quarterbacks.

Their three opponents, as a comparison, had 17 combined.

Mike Tomlin cited “game circumstance” to explain the lack of sacks in their 34-3 loss Sunday to the Eagles in Philadelphia. He did not excuse the passive rush in the first two games.

“I think that our lack of tangible pressure in the last game probably had a lot to do with how the game unfolded,’’ Tomlin said Tuesday, “and their ability to keep us all balanced, spin the dial and throw the ball quickly, not take the calculated risk that usually creates a climate where quarterback pressure and splash happen.

“In some of the games, particularly in some of the other games where we were in control and had a lead, I was much more disappointed in our ability to put pressure on the quarterback in those circumstances. Because, we had our opponent somewhat one dimensional and should’ve taken better advantage of it, Washington being an example of that.”

Tomlin put part of the blame on the coaching staff, including himself.

“We have to do a better job of putting these guys in position to win one-on-ones.

“And they in turn have to win those one-on-ones.”

It remains possible they could turn it around.

After all, they did have 48 sacks last season, although they got off to a fast start with 10 in their first three games.

And in 1993, as they were growing into the Blitzburgh defense, they started the season with only four sacks in their first three games yet finished with 42.

Kevin Greene led them that season with 12.5 sacks.

He went on to become the third-leading career sack man in NFL history, first among all linebackers, with 160.

The Steelers will honor Greene at halftime Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs at Heinz Field when they present him with his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring.

Maybe before the game, the Steelers could hold another ceremony with Green putting on a pass-rush clinic for them.