The Steelers are second in the NFL in points allowed per game at 14.4 and in rushing defense at 81.0 yards per game.
They are tied for third in the NFL in takeaways with 13.
It's all helped lead the team to a 5-2 record seven games into the 2024 season heading into Monday night's game at Acrisure Stadium against the Giants.
Despite some of the gaudy numbers, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin wants more.
"We've been talking about it because we looked at some of the things that we've we've put on tape that, and there's a lot of really good things, and I want to make sure I say that there's a lot of really good things we're putting on tape, but there's some things on there that, as Mike (Tomlin) likes to call them, that are JV that we know we can be better at," Austin said Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "And I think that's really what the guys are talking about, the things that we should be good at, you know, we have to be better at.
"I can give you some examples from the game, just the screen or the check down that goes for big plays like that shouldn't happen, not with the amount of talent and the speed that we have on defense. So those are just some simple things play wise that we look at, we try to figure out why they get out."
Jets running back Breece Hall caught six passes for a team-high 103 yards in last week's 37-15 Steelers win over New York. Included in that was a 57-yard catch-and-run to which Austin referred that set up New York's second touchdown.
The Steelers, however, adjusted at halftime and took some of those things away. After catching four passes for 93 yards in the first half, Hall had two catches for just 13 yards in the second.
And second-half adjustments have been a major factor for the Steelers defensively this season.
The Steelers are allowing just 5.1 points per game in the second half of games this season, nearly a point less than any other team in the NFL.
"I think it's a few things. I think obviously, as you settle into a game, you come out of the first half, and you kind of have an idea of how teams are attacking you and what they're doing," Austin said. "And I think that's really the one time you can get everybody kind of in a not-so-charged environment, and kind of relate. Hey, here's what's going on, here's what we think is happening, here's what we want to do, and then that gives us an opportunity to go out and fix the things that maybe weren't going so well in the first half."
Whatever Austin is doing with those halftime adjustments, they're working.
Now, the idea is to start games faster and become a more complete defense.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
And that involves figuring out how an individual opponent will attack and limiting that from the start of a game. Seven weeks into the regular season, teams have developed tendencies.
That will start this week against the Giants, who have been struggling offensively, scoring just 10 combined points in their past two games.
"I think that what you do is you look at the things that they've done well during the course of the year and how they can maybe get more of that into their game plan, not so much the things that they're not doing well," Austin said. "They've got some things that they'll do good. And I would think, instead of looking at all they do negative is, 'Hey, what are they doing good, and how are they going to try to maybe accentuate that?'"
