BALTIMORE -- Every elite defense needs at least one X-factor type of player who has an impressive skill set to pull off rare, and even unique, plays that can change the momentum of a game.
While the Steelers arguably have a few players that could fit this description, none were more obvious Sunday than Ryan Shazier. His 10 tackles led the team, but with an interception, three passes defensed (one of which led to another interception), a tackle for loss and playing a part in Cam Heyward's forced fumble, he was a major factor in the Steelers' 26-9 victory over the Ravens.
We take a look at how he did all this in the film room.
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When the Steelers lost to the Bears last week, Shazier took the brunt of the blame with missed tackles and gap responsibilities as the Bears ran for more than 200 yards against the Steelers' defense. That was completely different this week as the Steelers held the Ravens' ground game to just 82 yards, all of which came from Alex Collins.
Collins got most of his yards from one 50-yard burst in the third quarter. Other than that, he took eight carries for 32 yards. A very acceptable pace, considering the limited amount of carries he had during the game.
One of those carries was a key turnover that gave the Steelers the field position which led to their first touchdown of the game.
Collins tries to attack the gap outside of the tackle, but Shazier is able to knife right through the A-gap and put his hand right on the ball, slowing Collins down just enough for Cam Heyward to deliver the big blow that forced the fumble:
Heyward deserves a ton of credit on this play, too, as he takes on an initial double-team but is able to work through it and get to his gap.
This play is a perfect example of why Keith Butler always preaches gap responsibility with this defense, week in and week out. Even though Heyward faces two linemen at the onset of the play, he continues pumping his legs to fight through the blocks and get to his spot. That fight puts him in perfect position to fill the hole and force a key turnover that helps the Steelers build their early lead.
Shazier also came up huge against the pass. His interception gave the ball to the Steelers at midfield and was a perfect example of why he can be a nightmare to opposing quarterbacks.
Joe Flacco calls for a play-action pass and ends up facing heavy pressure. His immediate read is to hit his tight end, Benjamin Watson, running a crossing route over the middle of the field.
Watson runs a solid route, but Shazier is too quick as he cuts right underneath the route and makes the interception:
The Steelers entered Week 4 of the NFL season ranked as the No. 2 pass defense, allowing an average of 136.5 yards per game.
That success comes from:
• The defense winning on early downs and forcing more predictable passing situations on third downs.
• The defensive front creating pressure that disrupts the timing of quarterbacks and their receivers.
• The linebackers and secondary closing in on targeted receivers to force very tight passing windows, making each passing attempt more difficult for quarterbacks.
That's a lot of coordination, and Shazier talked about that in the locker room.
"Everybody was on their P's and Q's," Shazier said after the game. "A lot of times we work on [forcing tight passing windows] in walkthroughs. We watch a lot of film together and we get better every week."
While it's certainly a team effort that creates that kind of success, having an X-factor type of player like Shazier can put the exclamation point on the work of the defense.
That's exactly what happened when Mike Hilton recorded his first NFL interception.
The Steelers had forced the Ravens into a 4th-and-12 situation and rushed four players while they sat back in a conservative zone coverage package. This forced Flacco to fire a pass into a very tight window, which Shazier waited on and tipped into the air, resulting in an easy interception for Hilton:
Shazier may be the X-factor who changes everything for the Steelers' defense, but he cannot be that without the rest of the defense forcing opposing offenses to him by fulfilling their responsibilities. He recognizes that, as does one of the key players who helped him force those opportunities:
"We got pressure with four and pressure with three," Heyward said of the Steelers' pass rush that sacked Joe Flacco four times on Sunday. "Against the running game I thought we did a good job in the first half, other than the first run of the game. We just have to get better. They dropped some passes, but that's part of the game."
Heyward speaks on how the defense was able to both create pressure and stop the run with their work. But what I had to ask further about was how important it was for him and the defensive line to keep both Shazier and Vince Williams clean at the second level of the defense.
"Whether it's keeping them clean or getting penetration, those are our jobs and we have to do those every play."
In the mix with keeping the linebackers clean was Heyward's fellow defensive end, Stephon Tuitt, who made his return to the defense after missing all but two plays so far this season.
Williams sure thought that way when I asked him.
"Like I said, we got my guy Tuitt back," Williams said with a smile after his three-tackle performance. "That's a big man up front that draws a lot of attention. So having him back is a big asset."
Even outside of keeping Shazier and Williams clean, Tuitt's presence made a huge impact in the overall team chemistry.
One part of that chemistry was seen when Bud Dupree and Tuitt sacked Flacco for a 9-yard loss in the fourth quarter.
Watching the play live, I saw that Tuitt completely occupied his man and Dupree recognized the huge opening it created in the middle of the offensive line. He dashed in after Flacco and brought him down for the sack, with Tuitt eventually joining him to finish.
The way it looked was a classic cross stunt blitz where one player, Tuitt in this situation, was designed to draw the attention of the offensive line so that the other player, Dupree, can sneak right behind him with a free path to the backfield.
What I discovered in the locker room is that the play wasn't designed at all, but just something that both Tuitt and Dupree created based off their chemistry:
"Me and Bud all offseason, especially during training camp worked on communication with each other," Tuitt said of their chemistry after the game. "We have the type of talent to be able to do that, especially when we're single rushing."
Dupree confirmed as much when I asked about the play and how he played off of Tuitt's pressure.
"They slide our way a lot, which makes it easier for us to run the game," Dupree said of him and Tuitt often working together on the left side of the defense. "We just feed off each other and try to make plays."
When I asked about his sack, Dupree also confirmed it wasn't planned, but just something they pulled off on the fly when he realized Tuitt drove his man out of the gap.
When all that kind of production is going on throughout the Steelers' defense and the team is working together like that, it makes it that much harder for offenses to find soft spots that they can easily identify and exploit. When there's no clear part of the defense to key off of, players like Shazier will get chances in space to attack the ball and create the kind of havoc he did today for the Ravens.
What should be scary for the Steelers' future opponents is that in talking to each of the Steelers' defensive players I got to in the locker room, none of them left out the fact that they know they can still be better. They'll be looking at the film to find which parts of their chemistry are working and where they can further complicate the thought processes of opposing offenses.
As they continue to develop, watch out for more big plays from Shazier and others when offenses have to take bigger risks on third and fourth downs to keep drives alive like Flacco did Sunday.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY