Defense On Record Setting Pace

By: Sean McGeown, @seanpmcgeown

SteelerNation.com

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 4-0 for the first time since 1979, let that sink in. This is the first time in my lifetime and many of those reading this. The last time this happened, the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

Although it definitely was not the prettiest win on Sunday, it sure was a satisfying one. Rookie Chase Claypool had his hands all over this game with a record setting day. Just look at this metric and see how many records he broke:

While surely he is the story of the day, the defense continues to build on a historic streak of its own. With their performance on Sunday, the Steelers' defense has now recorded a sack in 61 straight games.

This is the second longest streak in NFL history, and they are inching closer to the record of 69 straight games with a sack held by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They are on a 16 game pace for an 80 sack season which would be the most all time. This defense is definitely still working out the kinks, but even while not playing their best football, they are on the verge of something historic and truly special.

Although the four up front, TJ Watt, Bud Dupree, Cam Heyward, and Stephon Tuitt, are definitely getting it done and are responsible for 12.5 of the teams 20 sacks so far, a total of 9 players on the defense account for at least a half sack so far. Talk about getting the most out of your defense.

With the team only getting better week after week, the sky is the limit for this unit, and they may end up in the history books as one of the greatest pass rushing defenses of all time if they keep it up. Let us know your thoughts below!

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