The old saying goes that there are lies, damn lies and statistics.
The statistics say the Steelers have the third-best pass defense in the NFL and are one of just a handful of teams giving up fewer than 200 yards passing per game.
The results, however, in recent weeks have shown something a little different.
Though the Steelers (8-2) have continued to win, they've allowed more big plays in their past three games than they gave up in their first seven. In fact, of the 10 longest pass plays allowed by the team this season, eight have come in their last three games, wins over Detroit, Indianapolis and Tennessee.
It's something of which the Steelers are well aware as they prepare to host the Packers (5-5) Sunday night.
"As we get further in the season, teams start to find little weak spots in your defense," nickel corner Mike Hilton told me. "The last couple of games they have found some. That’s on us. We’ve got to make sure we’re on top of our game, on top of our assignments."
The quarterbacks the Steelers faced in their past three games could be a factor.
Detroit's Matthew Stafford was the No. 1 pick in the draft when he came out of college in 2009. He's easily the best quarterback the Steelers have faced this season and he threw for more than 400 yards in a 20-15 loss. Stafford stung the Steelers defense for four pass plays of 30 or more yards, but they added up to just nine points as the Lions failed to get into the end zone.
And last Thursday night in a 40-17 win over Tennessee, Marcus Mariota, the second-overall pick in the 2015 draft, connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass to Rishard Matthews on the opening play of the second half -- the longest passing play against the Steelers this season. Mariota also found tight end Delanie Walker for a 42-yard gain down the middle of the field to set up a field goal.
Stafford and Mariota are both considered above-average NFL quarterbacks, with Stafford easily being one of the top five to 10 players in the league at the position.
But that doesn't explain how the Steelers allowed Jacoby Brissett of the Colts to throw touchdown passes of 61 and 60 yards in a 20-17 win at Indianapolis Nov. 12.
"If you’re looking at our rules, other teams know how we operate," veteran cornerback William Gay, who now plays only when the team goes to a dime look with six defensive backs on the field, told me.
"You know we want to smash the run. Obviously, you’ve got to go with the chunk plays. They’re saying, 'Let’s loosen them up for our running game.’"
Thing is, it wasn't working early in the season. The Steelers have given up 11 pass plays of 30 or more yards this season, but just three came in their first seven games. Two came in a win over Kansas City, while the other was a 31-yard pass by Blake Bortles to Marqise Lee in a loss to Jacksonville.
The Steelers struggled to stop the run at times early in the season, allowing 222 yards on the ground in a loss to Chicago and 231 in the loss to the Jaguars that dropped them to 22nd in the league against the run.
But in the five games since the loss to the Jaguars, they have given up 58 yards rushing per game. Not surprisingly, they have won all five of those games. And opponents have looked to make things happen downfield.
"I think that’s just playing the chess game between the offense and defense," Gay told me of the big plays. "You don’t want it to happen. It’s been happening lately. But it’s nothing that you say, ‘Oh, it’s not at the top of our list.’ Our list is stop the run, hit the quarterback and no deep balls. It’s been that way since I first got here."
Not having corner Joe Haden or safety Mike Mitchell on the field for long stretches the past two games hasn't helped. But every team deals with injuries. And both were on the field when Stafford threw for 423 yards for the Lions.
Besides, replacements Coty Sensabaugh and Robert Golden both had interceptions in the win over the Titans, two of four the Steelers had in that game.
"Those kind of erase everything," corner Artie Burns said Monday of the interceptions. "We give the offense the ball in the red zone, that should erase it. That’s what we need in a tight game. If we give up a touchdown in a tight game and we come back and get a turnover, it kind of wipes everything back out - it’s 0-0."
Perhaps.
But when they don't come, they can leave the defense open to big plays. And some of that overaggressiveness can be blamed for what has happened of late. Burns, for example, has gotten caught a couple of times peeking into the backfield and been beaten for long touchdowns.
It happened in Kansas City on a 57-yard touchdown catch by De'Anthony Thomas when quarterback Alex Smith began scrambling and again in Indianapolis when he bit on a double move in an attempt to jump a route.
"I was about to jump the comeback," Burns said. "I had my eyes on the touchdown. I saw him look at the quarterback, and I said I’m buying it."
But those are the things that must be balanced when playing defensive back in the NFL, where a cornerback's aggressive nature can be used against him.
"Absolutely," Hilton told me. "Everybody wants to be the guy who makes the big play, the big interception. We’ve got to let the play come to you instead of trying to make it happen. I’m not losing confidence in our guys. We’re still confident. We know what we can do."