1. No fly zone?

After being the target for fan scorn — and salivating opposing quarterbacks — for the better part of a decade, the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary quietly is building a resume worthy of one of the better pass defenses in the NFL.

The full-season statistics are, at worst, better than average: 10th in the NFL in opponents passer rating, 13th in opponents yards per attempt, 10th in yards per completion. But since safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was acquired Sept. 17 (which conveniently omits the Steelers’ disaster of an opener against Tom Brady and a Week 2 loss to MVP candidate Russell Wilson), the numbers are much better: 64.9 opponent pass rating (would be third in the NFL), 5.5 yards per attempt (would be second), 8.7 yards per completion (would lead the NFL).

Over the Steelers’ past five games, opponents have completed only 11 passes that have gained 20 or more yards. No team has completed a pass of 40 yards or more against the Steelers since Brady had two in Week 1. Every other team in the league has allowed at least one in that time.

With regard to the deep pass, over the past four games, the Steelers have allowed only one completion on a pass that was thrown more than 20 yards downfield (per Pro Football Focus). For context, Mason Rudolph has five such completions (and three touchdowns) in his four starts this season.

.@Steelers FLEA FLICKER!@Rudolph2Mason finds @TeamJuJu DEEP for 45 yards! #SEAvsPIT

?: FOX?: NFL app // Yahoo Sports appWatch on mobile: https://t.co/y8YLGKmeTf pic.twitter.com/vmvg3kVOG0

— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2019

2. Mason goes deep

By one telling measure, at least, the conversion of Rudolph from “dink-and-dunker” to “Air Mason” took only three starts.

When Rudolph made his first NFL home start Sept. 30, his average intended air yards (defined by NFL Next Gen Stats as how far downfield a pass is intended at the point of catch) of 3.2 was the lowest of 31 qualifying quarterbacks in Week 4. That was during a 27-3 win against Cincinnati on “Monday Night Football.” But when “MNF” returned to Heinz Field four weeks later, Rudolph averaged 12.8 air yards downfield on his 36 attempts during a 27-14 win against Miami. That was the highest in the league among 30 qualifying quarterbacks during Week 8.

The difference between these two Rudolphs was stark: Of all starting quarterbacks for all games through eight weeks, just once — Josh Rosen in Week 6. It got him benched — has one had a lower intended air yards than Rudolph against the Bengals. But just four times all season has any quarterback averaged more intended air yards than Rudolph did Monday against the Dolphins.

Although it was tough sledding in the run game, the Ravens were 8/10 on short yardage runs (4 yds or less to go). Here they run an unbalanced line to the right on this 3rd & 2 play. Check out the movement Bozeman & Skura get on that left side. Pound the down! pic.twitter.com/JhYwjsFSke

— michael crawford (@abukari) October 8, 2019

3. Power problems

The Steelers rightly are recognized for their strong defensive line — even without the injured Stephon Tuitt. And they have allowed only 298 rushing yards over their past four games, an average of 74.5 per game that would be second best in the NFL over the full season.

But the Steelers’ front seven has struggled to get stops in the obvious run situations when only a short gain is needed.

Opponents are 19 for 22 in picking up first downs on third- or fourth-and-4 or fewer. When the opponent uses a rushing play during such third- or fourth-and-short situations, they are 16 for 18. This includes opponents going a combined 11 for 13 against the Steelers when running the ball in third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situations.

Footballoutsiders.com ranks the Steelers 30th in the NFL in defensive “power success” rate (82% of opponent runs on third or fourth down and 2 yards or fewer to go have achieved a first down or touchdown).

“I don’t look at myself as an inside linebacker no more,” #Steelers Vince Williams said. “I’m a utility player.” https://t.co/zVjrJr7hPO

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) October 28, 2019

4. Vince the pass-rusher

Vince Williams takes pride in being a “hybrid” defensive player. Per PFF, he has taken snaps this season as an inside linebacker (his given position), on the edge rushing from the outside, lined up at the line of scrimmage as a de facto lineman, as a “slot corner” in coverage and even as a “wide” corner.

According to PFF, Williams has pass-rushing duties for 26.3% of opponent passing plays — and his pass-rush success rate of 11.9% (QB pressures per passrush) is better than that of stalwart Steelers pass-rusher T.J. Watt (9.9%).

Williams also has been used in coverage of a receiver 59 times in his 4½ games played this season.

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