Boasting best sack tally in NFL, defense hunting more turnovers
On Oct. 13, 1974, the Steelers intercepted Chiefs quarterbacks seven times in a 3424 road victory at Arrowhead Stadium. Jack Lambert, Jack Ham and Glen Edwards each had two interceptions. J.T. Thomas had one.
The next time the 2018 Steelers intercept a pass, their season total will reflect what the Steel Curtain did in that one game 44 years ago.
The Steelers have six picks with four games left in the regular season. Their inability to intercept opposing quarterbacks could become historic in the worst way if they aren’t more opportunistic over the next month.
The team record for fewest interceptions in a season is eight, set in 1940. The NFL record (excluding the strikeshortened season in 1982) is five, set by the 2005 Oakland Raiders. Luckily, the Steelers already cleared that bar.
But the Steelers haven’t had an interception in the past three games and have only two in the past nine. Nobody has more than one and two starters in the secondary — safety Sean Davis and cornerback Coty Sensabaugh — don’t have any.
The lack of turnovers has been a hot topic in recent weeks as the Steelers have lost the turnover battle by a combined tally of 8-1 over the past three games.
A pair of losses put the AFC North back up for grabs.
One mystifying element of the lack of interceptions is that the Steelers lead the NFL with 41 sacks.
Coach Mike Tomlin all but absolved his pass rushers of blame Tuesday when he addressed the problem at his weekly news conference.
“A lot of it is done by creating environments, putting the quarterback under duress,” Tomlin said. “That’s one of the reasons I’ve been disappointed in the lack of turnovers, because the quarterback largely has been under duress in the games we’ve played. We’ve gotten after the quarterback. Our sack total is kind of a reflection of that. We’ve got to be more opportunistic. We’ve got to preach it. We’ve got to work it. The guys have got to deliver.”
Tomlin looks around and sees other strong pass-rushing teams piling up turnovers. The Bears have 37 sacks and lead the league with 30 takeaways, with 21 interceptions. The Chiefs have 39 sacks and 20 takeaways.
The Steelers have just 12 takeaways.
“We’ve had the opportunities for interceptions,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “We’ve dropped a lot. We have to catch them. We’ve had chances for fumble recoveries and the ball happened to bounce the other way. My personal belief is you have to be a ball hawk, but sometimes these things come in bunches. Sometimes they happen. Sometimes they don’t.
“Our guys are aware of it. They’re trying to be ball-conscious, rake the quarterback when we sack him, try to do all that stuff. We’ve had fumbles on sacks. Sometimes those big guys on other teams recover the fumbles and we don’t. We have to get those balls. The turnover ratio is a huge stat. It matters in terms of wins and losses. There are probably four or five games in your season that [you] win or lose by three points. We’ve been on the bad end of that the past two. We have to try to find a way. Finding a way is getting the ball and stopping people when we have to.”
The Steelers had two sacks and nine quarterback hurries against the Chargers, yet Phillip Rivers was able to pass for 299 yards and two touchdowns, finishing with a 115.4 quarterback rating.
When quarterbacks are constantly under pressure, there are more opportunities for defensive backs to jump routes and anticipate when passes will be released. But if the rush doesn’t force the quarterback to hurry, those anticipatory moves can become mistakes, quickly turning into big plays or scores for the offense.
It’s a slippery slope for defensive backs.
“I don’t feel like you just can go looking for interceptions,” Davis said. “That’s what I know as a DB in the league. If you look for something, you’re creating something else. If you’re vacating your spot to go find something else, you’re leaving a void. I’m just going to continue to trust the process and continue to work hard and continue to go through my progressions and go off my film study to try to create more turnovers. I’m not going to go out there to try to force anything. I will play the ball in the air but that’s about it. That’s how I’m going to about getting more picks.
“I’m just going to trust the process,” Davis said.
It won’t be easy for the Steelers to pad their interception total over the final four games of the season. Oakland quarterback Derek Carr, this week’s opponent, has thrown eight interceptions, but none in the past seven games. After Carr, the Steelers get Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Brady also has eight, one in the past five. Brees has three all season.
“Turnovers are a big part of the game,” strong safety Terrell Edmunds said. “I feel like if we did have turnovers in these previous games, the ending could have been different. But you can’t have ifs, ands or buts. We have to develop that in practice and transition that into games.”