Pittsburgh Steelers: Can The Defense Turn It Around?

Much has been made of the poor showing the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has exhibited since the first half of the game against the Cleveland Browns. Everyone seems to agree that they need to get on track.

However, the defense is also accountable in the Black and Gold’s uninspired 1-1 start.

While the Steelers remain a decent No. 7 against the pass, they are 20th overall in NFL team defense, due to their 29th-ranked run defense.

While Dick LeBeau’s crew has accounted for three sacks in two games, they are also on the hook for zero fumble recoveries and zero interceptions. They have surrendered 53 points on the scoreboard while the offense has generated just 33 of their own.

The tackling mistakes against the Ravens in Baltimore are part of a larger problem for the Steelers, who missed 15 in the 26-6 loss. Through two games, the Steelers have missed a total of 26 tackles. This squad is on pace to miss twice as many tackles as they did last year, when they averaged 6.8 missed tackles per game.

I have one burning question for the Steelers Nation in 2014: Can the defense pull it together in time?

Where does accountability begin? Is it all on Mike Tomlin or Dick LeBeau? What about ownership of the situation from assistant head coach/defensive line coach John Mitchell, linebackers coach Keith Butler, defensive backs coach Carnell Lake, along with defensive assistants Jerry Olsavsky and Joey Porter? This seems to be a failure across the board.

Mike Tomlin told Teresa Varley of Steelers.com about the tackling issue, “It’s just about improving on a day-to-day basis and some fundamental things individually and collectively.”