The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has started the 2017 regular season strong and, though the media and fan base might be looking at their incredible sack totals or any number of other defensive statistics to date, they’re typically focused on the negative.
The most common narrative has been the quarterbacks the team has faced in the first quarter of the regular season.
In case you forgot, here are the signal callers who have lined up opposite the Steelers’ defense so far:
Week 1 — DeShone Kizer (R)
Week 2 — Case Keenum
Week 3 — Mike Glennon
Week 4 — Joe Flacco
While many roll their eyes when someone talks about the improved Steelers’ defense— considering they haven’t faced a top quarterback as yet—it doesn’t mean the team should apologize for dominating those quarterbacks they’ve faced.
Should they apologize for Sam Bradford not playing in Week 2? Likewise, should they have apologized for Ryan Tannehill’s injured knee which forced Matt Moore into duty prior to the team’s 2016 AFC Wild Card game against the Dolphins?
No, and heck no.
You play your schedule and you go against the opponent’s best, whomever that may be on any given Sunday.
But this shouldn’t detract from what the team has done in the first four weeks of the regular season.
Just look at the stats each week:
Week 1: DeShone Kizer (R)
- 237 total yards, 180 passing, 57 rushing
- 18 points surrendered
Week 2: Case Keenum
- 237 total yards, 146 passing, 91 rushing
- 9 points surrendered
Week 3: Mike Glennon
- 306 total yards, 84 passing, 222 rushing
- 23 points surrendered
Week 4: Joe Flacco
- 288 total yards, 206 passing, 82 rushing
- 9 points surrendered
Granted, the Steelers didn’t exactly play a murderer’s-row schedule of quarterbacks to start the season, but their overall defense has done exactly what was expected against sub-par competition. Now, their run defense is an entirely different story.
I discuss each of these games, the quarterbacks and statistics in more depth in the above podcast for your listening pleasure.
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