Suffocating Steelers secondary takes breath away in first test
Did you see it coming? I certainly didn’t.
Did anyone, at least anyone outside the Steelers locker room?
The pregame sentiment about Steelers-Bills was two things; negative and near-unanimous. One had to search far and wide to find any pundit or analyst picking Pittsburgh. I certainly couldn’t bring myself to do it. On paper, Buffalo brought back the AFC’s best offense from 2020, and its strengths – Josh Allen and a talented receiving corps – seemed like a bad matchup for the Steelers’ rebuilt cornerback stable.
In reality, it was a mismatch at Highmark Stadium on Sunday; Allen and Buffalo’s receivers were no match for the Steelers’ unexpectedly superlative secondary.
If you want to tell me that the overall defensive performance was the story, I won’t argue. For my money, Cam Heyward was the best player on the field, and T.J. Watt looked every bit like a man in “hitting shape.” Melvin Ingram and Alex Highsmith combined with Heyward and Watt to give the Steelers a dynamic pass rush, one that racked up three sacks and drew six holding penalties.
The Steelers blitzed just twice all game, and there is no doubt that their ability to drop seven players into coverage was a major factor in frustrating Allen and the Buffalo passing game.
Having said that, there was every expectation heading into this season that the front seven would be the strength of the defense. They did what they were expected to do, albeit at an exceptionally high level.
But those new corners? They were a revelation, no one more so than Cam Sutton. For a guy with just 355 snaps as a wide cornerback in four seasons, Sutton looked remarkably comfortable on the job. He got beat for the Bills’ only touchdown, but Allen made his best throw of the day to do it, and Gabriel Davis had to do a terrific toe-tap routine to beat Sutton’s tight coverage in the back of the end zone.
That play aside, Sutton was a disruptive force for whom Buffalo had no answer. He was lined up wide on 53 snaps but played 16 more in the slot, 10 more at free safety and six in the box.
He did in fact slide down near the line of scrimmage for the biggest play of his day, an obliteration of Buffalo’s 4th-and-1 conversion attempt that saw him make like Mike Hilton and blow up Matt Breida for a 7-yard-loss. The play looked completely atrocious, with Allen turning and throwing a backward pass to Breida, but part of the reason it was so off-kilter was that Sutton knew it was coming based on prior film work.
It was the second consecutive Buffalo possession that Sutton foiled on fourth down, mere minutes after he swatted away a pass intended for Gabriel Davis. The Steelers got 10 points on their subsequent drives, turning a 10-3 deficit into a 13-10 lead that they would not relinquish.
Sutton wasn’t the only star in the secondary; Joe Haden was rock-solid, Tre Norwood came out of nowhere to emerge as the primary slot corner, and James Pierre had a huge pass breakup two plays before Danny Smith’s special teams took full control of the game with a blocked-punt touchdown.
Minkah Fitzpatrick? He had a crucial open-field tackle right before Sutton hit Breida for the big fourth-down loss.
Even Terrell Edmunds had a solid day.
What does it all mean? For starters, my 7-10 prediction included a loss to Buffalo, so I probably have to up things to at least 8-9. That said, at the risk of overreacting, it appears this team is capable of more. The Bills boast one of the best offenses that the Steelers will see all season, making the defensive effort that much more impressive. If they stay healthy, it’s easy to imagine Mike Tomlin’s charges making life miserable for several of their early-season opponents.
Tomlin’s defense was supposed to be good, even very good. It might well be great, or even spectacular. Defenses rarely dictate terms anymore in the NFL; the rules make it virtually impossible to do so. But if Pittsburgh is able to generate consistent pressure without blitzing, no opponent is safe. That’s the secret sauce when it comes to stopping the best quarterbacks and most explosive offenses in the league. It’s how the Giants beat an unbeaten Patriots team in Super Bowl 42, and it’s how the Buccaneers dismantled the high-flying Chiefs last year.
Ben Roethlisberger and the offense still need lots of work, to be sure. Roethlisberger made some superb, clutch throws down the stretch, but the first 30 minutes were a complete mess on that side of the ball. That said, the offensive line should theoretically improve, and Roethlisberger, along with Najee Harris, should be the main beneficiaries. And judging by that defensive performance, they’ll have some time to work out the kinks.
It’s just one game, and plenty can still go wrong. Still, after watching that defense, and especially that secondary, how can you not feel better about this team’s chances?
Opponents might be able to see this defense coming, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to do anything about it.