After makeover of run D, Steelers face early test in Jets
As one of the players most counted on to stop opponents’ rushing attacks, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Keeanu Benton takes it personal when his defense doesn’t stop the run.
“Especially as a D lineman, I always pride myself in (knowing) you had a good game when you stop the run and you hold the team turn to under 100 (rushing yards),” Benton said. “It’s a big, big (priority) of ours to make sure we do stop the run.”
If Benton takes pride in stopping the run, he couldn’t have been feeling too haughty in the aftermath of the Steelers’ two games at their archrival Baltimore Ravens this past winter. The Steelers submitted a combined 519 rushing yards in a pair of defeats that spanned Week 16 of the regular season and a wild-card playoff game.
After a makeover of the defense’s roster over the offseason by management, the Steelers aren’t dwelling on the failings of nine months ago.
“I feel like we leave last year in the past,” Benton said, “and just move on. And I think we got a good start and had a great training camp of doing so.”
The 2025 opener will provide a test. Sunday’s opponent, the New York Jets, figures to feature among the NFL’s most run-reliant offenses. Justin Fields is one of the league’s best running quarterbacks, and the duo of Breece Hall and Braelon Allen forms one of the best running back pairings.
While Benton is in his third season, the Steelers added a trio of rookies to their front seven in Derrick Harmon, Jack Sawyer and Yahya Black. Another player who will likely make his NFL debut is Logan Lee, and free-agent signings Malik Harrison and Daniel Ekuale will chip in.
It didn’t take long for the new guys to get the message that the run defense has to be better than it showed late in the 2024 season.
“You hear from the vets all the time that (stopping the run) starts where we are — hands in the dirt,” Black said. “And really, the dominance that they show and really starting to gain that knowledge that they’re really impressing on the guys that came in.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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