Among the Steelers' defensive struggles against the Packers, allowing Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon for a combined 129 rushing yards on 30 carries. That was the most the Steelers had allowed all season, and several of those runs helped balance a Packers offense that was already playing well with Aaron Rodgers playing at an elite level.
The Steelers' defense needs to be more stout against the run in future efforts while the offense figures out its mess of a situation. But the mistakes that were seen in the loss to the Packers were fixable for some players, and might prove to be career-defining challenges for some depth players.
Coming into training camp the Steelers' defensive line depth was arguably the strongest position group of the team, save for the wide receivers. Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu all being strong veterans used to playing together with a veteran behind them in Chris Wormley and a mix of two young aspiring linemen in Carlos Davis and Isaiah Buggs.
But with Tuitt still not off injured reserve, Alualu joining injured reserve, and Davis still nursing an injury, that depth has been sliced in half to force Wormley and Buggs into more prominent roles with Isaiahh Loudermilk and Henry Mondeaux getting key snaps in games.
Heyward is definitely still a wrecker of offensive lines who can beat opponents with power and/or finesse techniques. Watch how when his man tried charging him head on how he took a quick step back, swam over the head of his man and flew in to blow up the run:
Heyward is the prime example of being a playmaker but also being a role player when called upon to do so.
But the Steelers need all of their defenders up front to know how to do that. T.J. Watt noted that he wasn't doing enough of that himself after the game Sunday.
"Just trying to do too much," Watt said when asked how the defense can perform better. "I think it starts with me. Just trying to make too many things happen. You’ve got guys down and you’re just trying to make a play. Sometimes you’ve just gotta trust your teammates and I think that starts, obviously, first and foremost, with me. I think they had over 100 yards before the end of the third quarter, rushing alone. Anytime they can have the run or the pass, it’s really tough to stop them."
Watt referenced how he and other Steelers were trying to do too much, which implies players abandoned their given assignments in efforts to make plays themselves. But there are plays when defenders, especially linemen, need to take on roles that make way for other defenders to be the playmakers.
Again, Heyward understand this and does it all the time. Here's an example when he blew up his man in the hole so far back that it also blocked a pulling guard from becoming a lead blocker. That allowed Arthur Maulet, who shed a block on the edge, to be the player who made the tackle for loss with Devin Bush and Melvin Ingram coming behind him:
But Heyward can't be there every play to play hero or support and save the Steelers' defense all game.
He played 57 of the Steelers' 72 snaps Sunday, and even that seemed like it wasn't enough when you watched the rest of the Steelers' defense.
When Mondeaux and Loudermilk have been in games, their roles of maintaining certain gaps haven't always been kept and opponents are scheming stretch run plays to count on that. Watch how that worked against the Steelers on this 25-yard rush from Dillon. The Packers ran a stretch run to the right, which forced each of the Steelers' defensive linemen to crash in that direction, but also maintain their gaps. To do that, each defensive lineman needed to establish leverage so that the shoulder to the side their crashing is free and they can make a play in their gap.
Mondeaux here was in the middle gap and didn't establish that leverage, which was right where Dillon attacked:
That's been a theme for a while with Mondeaux, and it doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon.
If it doesn't, the Steelers might need another player to fill his shoes for the 12 snaps he played, as you can see even that few plays can prove costly.
But it wasn't just depth players making mistakes in their gaps Sunday, as Watt mentioned himself being a culprit of a player trying to do too much. Watch this play when Watt was lined up as the edge defender but jumped inside with the hope to blow up the run play in the backfield. If he had pulled it off, it would've been a spectacular play. But he didn't need to be spectacular on a play where if he maintained the edge, the rest of the Steelers' defense could've swarmed behind him and made a standard run stuff:
Watt sounded like he understood that issue and will work to correct it moving forward.
Considering he had missed the previous game and a half for the Steelers, he gets the benefit of the doubt that he might've been overeager to be that playmaker for his team. But while the Packers did find success with the run, there were also examples where several players fit their roles for their teammates. Watch this run stuff split between Terrell Edmunds and Joe Schobert. They're two fast off-ball defenders who need to fly around the box freely to make plays against the run and make the Steelers' defense work.
Watch this play how Buggs, though he got driven back, was able to occupy his double team just long enough for Schobert to run into the backfield, while Alex Highsmith set the edge and Heyward occupied his man. But you can see what it did to free up the defenders behind them, and the success it caused:
If the Steelers can get back to filling those roles, that will go a long way to fixing the run defenses in the coming weeks.
As they prepare to face a Broncos offense with two athletic backs in Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon who can attack open gaps left unattended by defenders. It will especially be vital in the two showdowns the Steelers will have with the Browns with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
