It was an offseason full of promise. However, if Week 1 was any indication of things to come, it could be a tough year for the Pittsburgh Steelers and perhaps a very rough Monday night in the Steel City.
Of course, it is only one game. Still, Mike Tomlin’s club was physically pushed around by the visiting San Francisco 49ers, 30-7, on the opening Sunday of the 2023 season. It was outmatched in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The Steelers couldn’t stop the Niners from running the ball (188 yards), failed to mount a ground attack (41 yards) and couldn’t protect Kenny Pickett.
The second-year quarterback looked uncomfortable for most of the afternoon. He was sacked five times and pressured into two interceptions. Conversely, the Cleveland Browns hosted the Cincinnati Bengals on the same afternoon and limited the defending AFC North champions to 142 total yards on 43 plays (2.6 average) in an impressive 24-3 victory.
So, what’s different about a Browns’ unit that was 14th in the league in total yards allowed in 2022, while giving up 135.0 yards per game (25th in the NFL) on the ground? Cleveland’s pass rush managed only 34 sacks, almost half of those by star defensive end Myles Garrett (16.0).
The latter got some help this offseason and it started with new coordinator Jim Schwartz, who knows a little something about formidable and deep defensive fronts. There are also threw newcomers on the starting front. General manager Andrew Berry swung a deal with Minnesota for defensive end Za’Darius Smith.
Via free agency, he added interior performers Dalvin Tomlinson (Vikings) and Shelby Harris (Seahawks). Depth comes from other free-agent additions such as end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (Texans) and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (49ers).