The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 3-1 on the season with a 24-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4, flourishing with an efficient offensive performance and key turnovers on defense to become
the AFC North’s leader through four weeks.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a vintage performance, completing 18 of 22 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown, while running back Kenneth Gainwell went off with 99 rushing yards and two touchdowns in place of the injured Jaylen Warren.
Defensively, the Steelers did allow 350 passing yards to Carson Wentz, but they shut down the run game, and Minnesota was forced to pass as they were playing from behind for most of the afternoon.
Pittsburgh did keep Minnesota relatively inefficient offensively, while forcing two key interceptions, with the latter resulting in a touchdown drive.
There were some missed opportunities, including a blocked field goal, two field goal tries in the red zone, and a turnover on downs in a goal-to-go situation. But, the Steelers are starting off 3-1 with wins over Minnesota, New England, and the New York Jets.
After four weeks, the biggest question for the Steelers revolves around their defense. Is Sunday’s performance sustainable?
The Steelers have been susceptible to big plays this season, and that was the case late on Sunday, as Jordan Addison had an 81-yard catch, and there were six other passes of 15+ yards.
Minnesota had two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, but it wasn’t enough in the comeback effort as the Steelers had done enough on both sides of the ball for the win.
But, through four weeks, Pittsburgh’s passing defense ranks 29th in passing yards allowed (260.5), 28th in yards per pass attempt (7.6), and 22nd in passer rating allowed (96.0). It’s not like the run defense has been fantastic; the Steelers had been one of the worst in the NFL before this weekend, and now rank 19th (122.0 rush yards allowed per game).
Pittsburgh is getting to the quarterback at a good enough rate. They just need to limit the explosive plays more and have better consistency against the pass, as they showed glimpses of on Sunday.
A big part of that is the pass rush, which got six sacks on Carson Wentz Sunday, including ones from Nick Herbig, Keeanu Benton, T.J. Watt, DeShon Elliott, and Patrick Queen. Watt also had an interception near the line of scrimmage in a big game.
Six sacks aren’t sustainable on a weekly basis, but getting consistent pressure should help more with an inconsistent pass defense for the Steelers.
What do you see as the biggest question facing the Steelers right now? What changes do they need to make to win down the stretch? Weigh in below in the comment section.
