Steelers lug league-worst run defense into matchup with yet another elite RB in Josh Jacobs

Over the 98 previous games the Pittsburgh Steelers had played heading into the start of this season, they allowed exactly two opponent rushing plays of at least 65 yards.

That number has been matched just two games into this season.

It goes without saying among the Steelers defense that the trend simply cannot continue.

“It should never happen. Sixty- and 70-yard runs should never happen,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said this week. “That becomes a thing that we’ve got to make sure as we coach our guys up, in terms of proper pursuit angles, in terms of gap fits, in terms of hit, wrap, tackling, all of those different things. There’s all of it that comes into play.

“If there’s any mishap in there, you leave yourself open for a big run. That’s what we’ve done the last two games.”

JEROME FORD REVERSES FIELD FOR THE 69-YARD RUN ????

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— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2023

During the Sept. 10 opener, it was Christian McCaffrey who had a 65-yard touchdown run. Eight days later, Jerome Ford went 69 yards before ultimately being ruled down at the 1. That’s particularly a gut punch for a Steelers defense that perennially prides itself on stopping the run but has been largely abysmal at it so far this season.

“Right now, we’re not playing the run very well,” Austin said, “so I expect every team we play, until we show that we can stop the run, to come in and run the ball at us.”

Up next on the Steelers’ schedule happens to be the reigning NFL rushing champion, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh Jacobs. And even if the Raiders have struggled to get Jacobs going so far this season – he has 46 rushing yards on 28 carries, including a net minus-2 on nine attempts during a loss at the Buffalo Bills last week – the way the Steelers’ run defense has looked the past two weeks, it is taking nothing for granted.

TJ Watt on the Steelers fixing their run defense pic.twitter.com/gUiV8FMlZF

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 22, 2023

“They are a team that they flow through that run game, and so it definitely will be part of their agenda to get the run game going,” Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “Josh Jacobs is a great player, a tough player. Just because he had a slow start doesn’t mean they aren’t going to try to feed him.”

At this point, the Raiders would be foolish not to at least try to run on the Steelers. They rank dead last in the NFL in yards allowed per game (193.0) and per carry (5.6).

Opponents have 10 carries of at least 11 yards against the Steelers through two games this season. By comparison, the Steelers offense has managed only three carries of at least 10 yards.

The Steelers spent much of this past week emphasizing that preventing the big play is an 11-man job for a defense.

“That’s really all it takes – just one guy being out of the gap, (an opposing running back) finds it and then an explosion run can happen,” Steelers defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk said. “So that’s really what we are trying to clean up, just kind of having guys see where they fit and make sure they fit in that spot. Just because, really, even if you are out of your hole a little bit, good backs will find it and take off on you.”

With a 1,653-yard season to his credit, Jacobs certainly qualifies as a good back. And, to wit, last season alone he had carries of 86, 43, 37 and 30 yards.

Facing Jacobs wraps up a hat trick of three of the NFL’s best running backs that the Steelers have seen or will encounter to begin their season. Though it was Ford who had the long run Monday, four-time Pro Bowler Nick Chubb was averaging 6.4 yards per carry against the Steelers before he was forced out of the game because of a serious knee injury. McCaffrey averaged 6.9 yards on his 22 attempts against the Steelers in the San Francisco 49ers’ 30-7 victory in Week 1.

“They are professionals. They get paid to play the game too, so they are scheming up and trying to find ways to do it,” Steelers defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko said. “But, ultimately, it just comes down to everybody on our defense doing their job.”

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