Sep 20, 2015 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Steelers fans have lofty expectations for their defenses.

And for good reason. They’re accustomed to seeing units capable of shutting down the opposition on a regular basis.

While the much-maligned current group isn’t anything close to being a shutdown defense, it can be good enough to help these Steelers be a major factor this season.

Sunday’s win over San Francisco is a case in point.

The Steelers didn’t play shutdown defense against the 49ers. The stat book shows San Francisco gained 409 yards and scored 18 points.

That, however, doesn’t come remotely close to telling the story of this game.

The defense came up with a number of big plays when needed, from holding the 49ers to a field goal after the Steelers took an 8-0 lead, to back-to-back series-ending plays by second-year linebacker Ryan Shazier that put the offense back on the field and helped the Steelers take a commanding lead.

The first play was a sack by Shazier that went for a 17-yard loss to pin the 49ers inside their own 5. Following a line-drive punt that was returned 16 yards to the San Francisco 35 by Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger threw a 35-yard strike to Darrius Heyward-Bey that put the Steelers on top, 22-3.

Moments later, a botched handoff was recovered by Shazier at the San Francisco 42 that led to a touchdown run by DeAngelo Williams late in the first half to give the Steelers a commanding 29-3 advantage.

Game. Set. Match.

Yes, the Steelers gave up some yardage after that. But in the first half, when the game was still in question, the 49ers were outgained 280-103.

With an offense as explosive as Steelers’ – and it will only get better this week with the return of Le’Veon Bell – the defense just needs to make some stops and allow the offense to do its thing.

It was far better than how things went in Week 1, when the offense sputtered a bit in the first half and the Patriots took advantage, grabbing a 21-3 lead en route to a 28-21 victory.

“We didn’t do as well as we would have liked a week ago and we responded accordingly,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We met this week’s challenges. We weren’t perfect. We gave up some big plays, particularly in the second half, but we will take the win.”

With such a high-powered offense, the Steelers’ defense doesn’t have to be perfect. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be great. But it does have to be impactful.

It was against the 49ers, providing five sacks, forcing a turnover and stopping San Francisco on downs on another occasion.

“I definitely feel like it was a big step forward,” said Shazier, who had a career-high 15 tackles, including three for losses, a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery.

It certainly seemed that way. Now, the next task will be to do it again, particularly on the road at St. Louis, where the Steelers play next.

The key is the front seven, the defensive linemen and linebackers. They accounted for all five of the sacks in this game and were disruptive as a group.

For a unit that is made up in part with five No. 1 picks in Shazier, Lawrence Timmons, Jarvis Jones, Bud Dupree and Cameron Heyward, they better be disruptive.

“We have to continue to do that. It can’t just be a one-hit wonder,” said Heyward. “We have to continue to improve.”

Perhaps that will happen. Perhaps the Steelers will improve to the point where they again have a lockdown defense.

As we saw Sunday, it’s not necessary.

“We have the ability to do that,” said defensive end Stephon Tuitt. “We got a little glimpse of what we can really do to be dominant. We’ve got to keep working and play a four-quarter game. When we’re on a roll, we’re on a roll.”

F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.