After allowing just 26 points in their first three games, the Steelers have given up 47 in their past two, both losses.
A big part of that has been the defense's inability to get off the field in critical situations. After limiting their first three opponents to just seven third-down conversions on 32 attempts, a 21.9 percent success rate, the Steelers have allowed 17 conversions on 30 attempts (56.7 percent) in their past two games.
Blown coverages and a lack of overall pressure has been a part of that, as the Steelers have been forced to shuffle players in and out of the lineup at outside linebacker with injuries to Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig, along with having some issues with newer players in the secondary.
Fixing some of those issues will be job No. 1 for defensive coordinator Teryl Austin as the Steelers (3-2) head to Las Vegas to face the Raiders (2-3) Sunday.
With Highsmith, Herbig and fellow backup DeMarvin Leal all declared out for Sunday's game because of injuries, the Steelers will be forced to lean on Jeremiah Moon, activated last week from the reserve/injured list, and practice squad players Adetokunbo Ogundeji and Eku Leota at outside linebacker this week opposite T.J. Watt.
The Steelers have always used a next-man-up-mentality when it comes to injuries. But this is a next-men-up situation.
"We're going to be short-handed, but in the sense of guys that haven't played for us here, but we've got a couple of the young guys that are possibly available to us," said defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
Highsmith was already out against the Cowboys because of a groin injury, putting Herbig in the starting lineup. He then suffered a hamstring injury in the first half against Dallas. Leal suffered a neck injury in the second half of that game, forcing Moon to play 28 defensive snaps despite having taken part in just three practices last week before being activated on Saturday.
The Steelers were so thin at outside linebacker, defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk was pushed outside on some pass rush downs, as well.
"We used (Loudermilk) in a pinch last week. He's athletic. He's big. I know he's not going to rush from the outside like the other guys, but in terms of the run game, he'll be fine," Austin said. "We'll count on probably a couple of these young guys to kind of step up. Moon stepped up, played a little bit more than we thought he was going to play last week just coming out of the bullpen. Then we have a couple of practice squad guys, and we'll see how they shake out at the end of the week in terms of who may be a guy to help us."
The one thing the Steelers can count upon is the presence of Watt, who last week became the second-fastest player in NFL history to reach 100 career sacks. Not only does Watt garner a lot of attention from opposing offenses, he also can be a help to the younger or new players at his position.
"Yeah," Austin said regarding the newer players learning from Watt. "I think that they've been here now. You know, Adei's been here a little bit longer than Eku, so I think being in the room and being being around really helps them and in terms of acclimating and being able to step in, and that's why we got those guys. Those guys have played NFL football before, and they're here for this or that reason, so that if we do get banged up, I mean, we can bring them up and we can play, and they'll give us a good day's work."
Communication could be the critical part of that equation.
Some of the issues the Steelers have had in recent weeks stopping the run and giving up some explosive passing plays have stemmed from that.
Getting everyone on the same page and knowing their assignments with some moving parts can always be an issue.
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"It's always a work in progress, just like your scheme and the things that you do. So we've just got to continue to work at it," Austin said. "When I say it's a work in progress, like a lot of things you do, you don't always do everything the same every week. So we just came up short in that area the last few weeks. We've got to continue to work at it to try to make it better.
"We do things in terms of practice and how we practice and the crowd noise and signals and communication, just to - it just has to continue to be like any other part of your game an emphasis for you. So we have to continue to emphasize it so we can get the best out of it."
And Austin still expects to be able to pressure the quarterback, regardless of who is in the game, whether that's via the blitz or with a four-man rush. The Steelers are blitzing at about a 20 percent rate this season.
"We still hold to our principles here," Austin said. "We'll pressure, but we also like the four-man rush when we get in some situations and let our guys win. So I don't think that's going to change a whole lot.
"We'll count on the guys we bring up to give us some pressure. We know we have a premier pass rusher on one side and we have a premier pass rusher inside (Cam Heyward), so we've got to generate some good work from the outside guys that are filling in, and we'll go from there."
