The Steelers finished second in the NFL in takeaways in 2020 with 27. They were first in 2019 with 38.
At their current pace, they'll finish with 13. Turnovers can be fickle in nature in the NFL. But to see a team that has been among the league leaders the previous two seasons fall completely apart when it comes to taking the ball away is striking.
And it's something the Steelers (1-3) know they have to change going into Sunday's game at Heinz Field against the Broncos (3-1) if they hope to end their current three-game losing streak.
"We’ve got to get turnovers. We’ve got to get people to turn the ball over and win the turnover ratio," Keith Butler said Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "I think that would help us a little bit."
Or a lot.
The Steelers' defense is built to make splash plays. Yet this season, it's been more crash than splash. They were 10-0 in 2020 when they won the turnover battle. They were 2-5, including a playoff loss to the Browns, when they did not. Not surprisingly, that has carried over to this season. They won the turnover battle in their season-opening win over the Bills. They've lost it every game since.
The Steelers' offense hasn't turned the ball over a lot -- just five times in the first four games -- but the defense has been stuck in a funk. It has forced just three turnovers this season and seven in its past 10 games.
And of late, they haven't been able to count on some of their usual suspects for force them.
Minkah Fitzpatrick has gone 11 games since his last interception. He had nine interceptions in his first 23 games with the team.
Joe Haden, who has 29 career interceptions, hasn't gotten one since Week 11 of last season.
Both had had chances this season, but had balls deflect off their hands.
"We’ve got to capitalize on the opportunities," Mike Tomlin said. "We get our hands on balls, we’ve got to catch them."
Fitzpatrick agreed.
"We've got to catch everything that comes our way," Fitzpatrick said, adding that he's missed some opportunities there.
That hasn't happened enough. And part of that has been due to game script. The Steelers haven't scored enough points offensively to put opponents in bad situations. That has allowed them to run the ball more, even if it isn't always effective.
The Steelers are allowing 3.7 yards per carry this season, which ranks 7th in the NFL. But they've had precious few opportunities to unleash their pass rush, which also leads to turnovers. The Steelers have played with the lead this season the fourth-fewest minutes in the NFL. They did that, in part, but not consistently stopping the run, but by getting those tackles for losses.
Last season, they led the NFL with 103 tackles for loss in the run game, 12 more than the next closest team and an average of nearly 6.5 per game. Nearly 25 percent of opposing runs went for a loss. This season, they have 19, an average of 4.75 per game, but still lower than what they had a year ago. And the percentage of runs for a loss have fallen to 17.7 percent.
As a result, they have just eight sacks in their first four games, a low number for a team that has led the NFL in that statistic for a record four consecutive years.
"We haven’t stopped the run good enough to put them in situations where they have to pass," defensive tackle Cam Heyward said. "And some lucky bounces, whether we haven’t got it, or we’ve gotten our hands on it and haven’t caught it. We’ve got to really force the issue."
But not too much.
The Steelers defense isn't designed for players to play "hero ball." It's designed for everyone to do their job and allow the plays to come to them.
However, it's been missing some pieces at times this season. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith have both missed at least one game. Stephon Tuitt remains on injured reserve with a knee issue. And Tyson Alualu suffered a fractured ankle in Week 2 against the Raiders.
It's forced some younger players into more prominent roles.
"The best thing we can do is understand that we’ve got guys injured, but we’re going to go out there and play detailed football," Hewyard said. "Just because you’re a young guy, just because you don’t have a lot of experience, doesn’t mean you can’t play well in this league."
But there also have been cases of veteran players trying to do too much. Watt returned for last week's 27-17 loss to the Packers and drew plenty of attention from Green Bay. But he also allowed himself to get out of position at times, creating gaps for the Packers to run the ball through. Green Bay finished with 131 rushing yards, the most the Steelers have allowed this season.
"I think if you ask TJ, he would tell you he learned a lot from that experience in terms of what he needs to do in terms of playing within the framework of the defense," Butler said. "Sometimes it’s good for us as coaches and players to get your butt whooped — not that T.J. did, he didn’t get his butt whooped — but he did some things he doesn’t normally do. Getting back into it, sometimes you do that."
The Steelers also need production from someone other than Watt. With Tuitt and then Alualu out, Heyward has gotten plenty of attention from opposing offenses, as well. But Watt has five sacks, eight quarterback hits and a forced fumble in the three games in which he has played. Heyward, Devin Bush and veteran outside linebacker Melvin Ingram have the team's other three sacks, with Ingram ranking second on the team with seven quarterback hits.
Thus far, however, Highsmith hasn't gotten home, nor recorded a quarterback hit. He was being counted upon by the Steelers to help replace Bud Dupree, who left in free agency. But that's been a wash as he's ceded more time to Ingram, a 32-year-old signed to supplement Watt and Highsmith, not play ahead of them.
"Offenses are going to do a lot of things to take care of him," Butler said of Watt. "When that happens, we’ve got to pick it up elsewhere. Alex has to do better. Melvin has got to do better in terms of putting pressure on the quarterback at that time. We’ve got to do a better job of taking pressure off of him and give them other people to worry about."
If the Steelers can do a better job of stopping the run and then having players other than Watt get home, Butler feels the turnovers will come.
"You’ve got to have a situation where we get them into a position where we can get after them a little bit," Butler said. "That’s what I’m talking about in terms of the running game. If they continually get us to third-and-1 all the way up to third-and-5, then it’s going to be hard to dictate to them what they can do and get after them a little bit. So, we’ve got to make sure we win first and second down. If we get them in third downs that we want, then we’ve got a good chance to create the turnovers."
