Steelers Legendary Play-By-Play Announcer Bill Hillgrove Doesn't Seem To Believe Pittsburgh Has A Better Defense Than Cleveland

The Pittsburgh Steelers sit atop of the AFC North after a 23-18 win against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3. It was the most complete performance of the season by the team and the group will travel to play an underrated Houston Texans squad in Week 4. If Mike Tomlin and co. are able to come out with a win, they will improve to 3-1 and head into a massive Week 5 contest against the Baltimore Ravens. One step at a time, however, as a young Houston group motivated by first-year Head Coach, DeMeco Ryans is coming off of a strong upset victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Several members of the media are analyzing each Week 4 NFL game with great detail. As far as the Steelers and Texans matchup goes, it's not the sexiest of games and the biggest storyline is probably rookie signal-caller, CJ Stroud. The 2023 first round pick has impressed in his first month, but will face a tough Pittsburgh defense that has talent everywhere.

Steelers long-time play-by-play announcer, Bill Hillgrove, joined the Voice of the Texans, Marc Vandermeer to preview the contest on the Wander Podcast. Vandermeer asked Hillgrove his thoughts on Pittsburgh's season so far and after quickly pointing out how tough of a game it was against the San Francisco 49ers, he threw the ultimate compliment to a division rival.

"San Francisco was superior in all phases and that's one of those games you kind of just threw out. Cleveland has, probably, the second-best defense in the league, uh, maybe the best, who knows? The Steelers were able to overcome that."

There's no denying that the Cleveland Browns have a strong defense. It still doesn't hurt any less to have a legend like Hillgrove imply that, for once, Cleveland is beating Pittsburgh on the defensive side of things.

Steelers Will Have Their Hands Full Within The Division

The Browns are currently first in the NFL and have only allowed 163.7 yards per game. That is the best mark by nearly 90 yards. It's somewhat of a miracle that the Steelers were able to escape Monday Night Football in Week 2 with a victory. Due to an inflated number against the 49ers, Pittsburgh is nearly dead last in the entire league and the defense has allowed a staggering 387 yards per contest.

Numbers aren't everything, though. The duo of TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith is turning into, if it isn't already, the best in the NFL. Watt has been a menace to begin 2023 and while Highsmith only has one sack, he is affecting the game in other ways. Opponents have to focus on him to some extent, which has opened up a ton of opportunities for Watt to wreak havoc.

Hillgrove's assessment is a fair one, but it was the Steelers defense who really showed up in the win against Cleveland. Highsmith found the end zone after intercepting Deshaun Watson on the first possession of the game and Watt helped propel the team late in the fourth quarterback with a fumble return for a touchdown that was caused by (guess who?) Highsmith.

It's early in the season, but Pittsburgh leads the way in the AFC North and a 3-0 start in the conference with a win against Houston would be extremely ideal with a big matchup against the Ravens looming. The Steelers defense could have Hillgrove saying by the end of the year that he was mistaken when referencing to the Browns as the best unit in the league. That group could very well be in the Steel City.

Do you think the Browns have the best defense in the NFL? Let us know in the comments below!

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