Steelers 4 Downs: Sack totals aren’t gaudy, but pressures and QB hits are piling up

1. Sacks lack, but…

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ remarkable run of leading the NFL in sacks for five consecutive seasons (2017-21) is long gone. At 16th in the league in sacks through 15 games this season with 36, the Steelers are right about at league average and appear destined to finish outside the top 10 in the NFL in team sacks for a third consecutive season.

But a look under the raw sack totals suggests the Steelers are still among the best at rushing the passer.

Some of the numbers kept by the league or available on pro-football-reference.com say so: The Steelers are second in the league in “QB knockdowns” with 60 and sixth in “QB hits” with 98.

ESPN calculates “pass rush win rate” (how often an individual beats a blocker en route to the quarterback). The Steelers rate fifth at 45%. T.J. Watt is 11th among individual edge rushers, and Keeanu Benton 14th among interior defensive tackles.

Pro Football Focus grading ranks the Steelers at the top of the league in pass rushing. Cameron Heyward ranks second and Benton seventh among defensive tackles in pass rush grades, and Watt is No. 4 among edge rushers.

2. Elliott for team MVP?

The Steelers lost each of the past two games, and safety DeShon Elliott was not in the lineup for either because of a hamstring injury. To point out the Steelers are 10-3 with Elliott is a misuse of causation/correlation. But, at the same time, it is not unfair to recognize Elliott for having an impactful season on the Steelers’ defense.

Elliott still leads the team in solo tackles and is second to Patrick Queen in total tackles. No other Steelers player has three fumble recoveries.

Digging a little deeper, the NFL’s in-house statistical service tracks “net yards over average” — put simply, how many yards (for a defensive player) the opposing teams gain per play relative to the league average.

Counting offensive and defensive players, Elliott’s 338.68 net yards over average leads the Steelers and by quite a considerable margin (receiver George Pickens is next at 163.15).

Among Steelers who have played at least 11% of the defensive snaps this season, Elliott’s 0.52 NYOA per play is easily best on the team. An offseason free agent signee, Elliott leads the Steelers in defensive NYOA on passing plays and on rushing plays.

It’s an imperfect statistic, but it is notable in regards to the six-year veteran’s play this season.

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3. Jones-in’ for protection

The PFF metrics for Steelers right tackle Broderick Jones’ pass protection are not good. Among the 60 NFL tackles who have played the most snaps in pass protection, Jones grades out at No. 57. No tackle has been charged with more sacks against (10), and when counting QB hits and hurries, only five tackles have permitted more “pressures” than Jones (38). Jones’ efficiency rate in allowing pressures is fourth worst among NFL tackles.

At least Jones appears to be trending upward, if PFF is to be believed. Two of his four highest-graded games in pass protection have come over the past four weeks, and until this past Saturday’s game, Jones had been charged with only one sack over the previous six games.

4. Third-and-run?

For a team that preaches its running game, the Steelers have a propensity to throw when facing what is arguably the ultimate “run-first” situation: third-and-1. According to the league’s official statistical service, the Steelers have elected for a pass during 10 of 23 third-and-1 scenarios they have faced. Only one team has thrown more passes on third-and-1.

Then again, passing hasn’t necessarily led to success. On 10 of their 13 rushes on third-and-1, the Steelers have gotten a first down. Four of the 10 third-and-1 passing plays achieved a first down.

The Steelers have passed and run eight times each this season when they have encountered third-and-2. Four of the eight rushes gained at least the requisite 2 yards; five of the eight passing plays have.