As usual, the Pittsburgh Steelers are loaded on offense, but a return to the Super Bowl will only come if a promising defense rises to the occasion.
It was the first day of training camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And that means a mini state-of-the-union from the head coach. Mike Tomlin begins his second decade as the sideline leader of the most successful franchise dating back to the NFL merger in 1970.
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There have been three-straight playoff appearances and seven total trips to the postseason during his tenure. There’s a Super Bowl title on his resume (2008) and an AFC title (2010) as well. But there’s been no league championship in close to a decade.
It’s a team that features quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell. The offensive line is stacked with Pro Bowlers like guard David DeCastro and center Maurkice Pouncey, as well as underrated right tackle Marcus Gilbert.
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On the other hand, the defense has yet to capture the magic of those teams during Tomlin’s early days at the helm. For numerous reasons, it just hasn’t come together, despite a lot of new faces via the draft. In April, the team used a first-round pick (outside linebacker T.J. Watt) on this side of the football for the fifth-straight year. Still, all is not lost as the 2016 rookie class made its presence felt slowly but surely this past season.
So when asked about his defensive unit on Thursday, the 45-year old sideline leader put it all into perspective…as usual (via Steelers.com):
"“They’re a group on the rise. I think that we have the pieces in place to be a dominant group — to be one of the best. And that’s our level of expectation.”"
It makes sense. After a very shaky start this past year, Keith Butler’s unit got steadily better. There were 25 sacks and 13 takeaways during Pittsburgh’s season-ending seven game winning streak. During the club’s 4-5 start, the Steelers forced only 10 turnovers and managed only 13 quarterback traps. The defense also played well in the playoffs in wins over the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs. But this same unit was undressed in the AFC title game at Foxborough.
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Like Tomlin said, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive unit is on the rise. We saw cornerback Artie Burns, strong safety Sean Davis and nose tackle Javon Hargrave enjoy solid debut seasons. But there’s still plenty of work ahead. And the improvement must continue if there’s any hope of making a trip to Minneapolis in early February.