Add Janet Butler to the growing list of people dissatisfied with the play of the Steelers defense. You heard this week from former Steelers Ryan Clark, Rocky Bleier and Chris Hoke, all of whom voiced their complaints about the state of the defense following Sunday’s 41-10 drubbing at the hands of the Bengals.
Janet Butler might not have the name recognition of those Super Bowl-winning players, but she does have a direct line to the man at the controls of the defense. In fact, she shares a bed with him.
“She tells me what I did wrong, what I should have done here, what I should have done there,” Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said Thursday afternoon following practice. “Why did you do this? Why did you do that?”
She’s a lot like everyone who has been watching this defense lately.
The questions are endless, but the biggest one is how did the run defense become this bad this quickly?
During the past two games, the Steelers have given up 82 points — and shoddy run defense is the No. 1 reason.
The Bengals last week rushed for 198 yards and averaged a whopping 5.2 yards per carry. Joe Mixon rushed for 165 yards, his career high and the most rushing yards ever gained by a Bengals player against the Steelers.
For the season, the Steelers are allowing 4.8 yards per carry, which is the highest average yards per attempt since the 1970 merger.
It once was a given the Steelers would be among the top 10 teams in the NFL in run defense. They’re 28th this week heading into the Ravens game.
“That pisses me off, too,” Butler said. “I’m not happy about it. Anyone who is a competitor isn’t happy about being where we are right now. I want to do better. All of us want to do better.”
The Steelers have given up 1,464 rushing yards through 11 games. That’s the most through 11 games since 1989, which strangely enough was the last time the Bengals beat the Steelers 41-10.
The ’89 Steelers run defense eventually improved and helped the Steelers reach the playoffs. These Steelers have six games left to right a ship that has veered way off course.
“It comes down to technique, getting off blocks, being physical at the point of attack, understanding alignment and execution,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “You can’t substitute anything for physicality.
“For us, we have to preach the little things because it’s the little things that are getting us beat. Running to the ball. Understanding if someone does make a mistake, having someone else there to be accountable for it. It takes 11 guys on defense to be a good defense. It doesn’t take one guy. It doesn’t take two guys. It takes 11 guys playing a lot better.”
It used to be an anomaly when an opposing running back would rush for 100 yards against the Steelers, but now it is commonplace. Mixon became the third back in the past six games to go over the century mark against the Steelers.
The Steelers are playing without starting defensive linemen Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu. Tuitt hasn’t played all season while Alualu was injured in Week 2. Other players have been in and out of the lineup with injuries and COVID-19.
The absences have tested the Steelers’ depth and the coaching’s staff creativeness. Against the Bengals, Heyward was asked to play nose tackle in the base defense after Isaiah Buggs was benched. Now it appears this week’s move could be playing Montravius Adams at nose tackle.
Name doesn’t ring a bell? He was just signed to the 53-man roster on Tuesday after spending most of the year on the Saints practice squad.
“When you have injuries, sometimes you’re playing with people who have to step up,” Butler said. “And sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to understand what it’s really like to be a Steeler.
“Our guys want to do well. It’s not like they want to get run over and give up dadgum 41 points twice. None of us like that crap. I think our guys will play hard and do the best they can.”
It won’t get easier against the Ravens. They’re second in the league in rushing, averaging 151 yards per game. Baltimore’s backfield has been decimated by injuries. J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards suffered season-ending injuries before the season started, but it hasn’t done much to slow down the Ravens’ running game.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson has picked up the slack. He’s ninth in the league in rushing with 707 yards.
“We’re playing a really good offense, a really good rushing offense, an MVP candidate in Lamar Jackson,” Heyward said. “If we don’t lock in on this guy, he’s going to have a field day. That’s just being honest. We have a lot in front of us. We need to grow from this. We need to be ready.”
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: December 2, 2021, 8:10 p.m.
Updated: December 3, 2021, 11:51 a.m.
