The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the middle of a hot streak as they have won their last three games. The wins weren't anything to write home about as they beat the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, and New York Giants. They were all games Pittsburgh was supposed to win, but winning two out of the three games by multiple possessions was exactly what the fan base wanted to see. The only game Pittsburgh sort of struggled in was their victory over the Giants on Monday Night Football, where the defense had trouble stopping a bad Giants offense.
Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Beanie Bishop Jr. celebrates after a game winning interception against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
Pittsburgh defense played well against New York in that they didn't allow too many points, but they struggled to stop the Giants on the ground. New York's rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. ran for a 145 yards on just 20 attempts against the Steelers. Pittsburgh is usually one of the better defenses against the run, but that wasn't the case on Monday night. Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin spoke to the media recently, where he gave his thoughts on how the defense felt following the win.
"We're all disappointed… we weren't happy with how we played Monday," Austin said. "But our guys figured out how to get the result we needed."
The Steelers defense allowed more yards than usual, but they managed to stop the Giants nearly every time they got the ball on to Pittsburgh's side of the field. The Giants were held to four field goals while the Steelers forced two turnovers and took Daniel Jones down in the backfield four separate times.
Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' TJ Watt rushes Giants' Daniel Jones.
The Steelers allowed the Giants to move the ball in many ways. Potential trade target Darius Slayton hauled in four catches for 108 yards while Malik Nabers caught seven passes for over 70 yards. This is unusual for Pittsburgh's defense, and the unit is not satisfied after making some big plays to secure the victory for the Steelers. Austin spoke more with the media about his defensive unit.
"The last two drives were turnovers and ended the game. But in terms of totality and how we played, I don't think there's anybody in that room that would be satisfied," Austin said. "And I think that's a good thing, because the minute you're satisfied with how you play and what you do, then you're gonna get passed up and you're gonna get stagnant, and you're not gonna look to improve then. And our guys are looking to improve."
Pittsburgh has had one of the best defenses in the league throughout the first half of the 2024 season. They still had a decent showing against New York when it is considered that they held the Giants to under 20 points and forced two turnovers. Whenever a defense does that, they put their team in a pretty good spot to win. Pittsburgh will still be striving to get better, especially as they take on a much harder schedule in the second half of the year.
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Steelers' TJ Watt during Week 7 of 2024 against the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football.
Steelers Will Need To Step Up Defensively As They Get Ready To Face Some High-Powered Offenses
Pittsburgh has one of the harder schedules during the second half of the season and they will be facing some good offenses. Their first game after the bye week comes against the Washington Commanders. Before the season began this looked like the easiest game on the back-end of the schedule, but the way Jayden Daniels has been playing changes that.
The Steelers will also be playing all six of their divisional games in the last half of the year, along with games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Pittsburgh's defense will be tested in ways that it hasn't been so far in 2024, and it will be interesting to see if the group can rise to the challenge.
What do you think of the comments from Austin? Let us know in the comments below!
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