Four insights: Steelers defense shines in duel of the best defenses in the NFL

The Steelers defense takes the crown in the battle of the best defenses in the NFL

Spectators at the Pittsburgh Steelers' home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday had a lot to look forward to – but an active scoreboard might not be one of them.

For the NFL's two best defenses – Los Angeles had allowed just 6.5 points per game to begin with, with Pittsburgh close behind at 8.0 – the meeting meant similar paths to victory.

The Steelers did it best.

For the third week in a row, the Steelers defense delivered, giving Pittsburgh a 3-0 record that puts them atop the AFC North. After Sunday afternoon's games, only the Minnesota Vikings had a record they could match.

Mike Tomlin was not afraid to challenge his defense and show that they were the best team at Acrisure Stadium.

“We knew we were in for a battle. Styles make battles,” Tomlin said. “They're set up like we are, so we knew it was going to be a great game. They play great defense. We play great defense. We had to challenge our defense to outplay theirs. I thought they did that.”

Four-time All-Pro edge guard TJ Watt, who had three tackles and a sack, let the game speak for itself.

“We're a confident group. Obviously they knew they were a top defense,” Watt said. “We don't talk a lot, we just like to go out there and play and have fun, and I feel like we did that today.”

The Steelers recorded five sacks, two of them by second-year pro Nick Herbig, who had a standout game after edge Alex Highsmith left the game with a groin injury.

The Steelers held LA to just 61 rushing yards, 44 of which came from JK Dobbins, who entered the game with an average of 133 yards in the first two weeks.

“We had two plays this week, two top defenses coming in,” Watt said. “We know they love to run the ball and we love to stop the run. I haven't looked at the film yet, but it seems like we did better today, but this is a damn good football team and it won't mean anything if we don't go back in the lab and learn from all this and move on.”

Justin Fields has arrived

The key to Sunday's victory was the emergence of Justin Fields, who had his best game in black and gold, completing 25 of 32 passes for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The crowd went wild as Fields galloped into the end zone from five yards out, tying the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.

This was made possible by an offensive line that was missing starters Troy Fautanu (ankle) and Isaac Seumalo. Broderick Jones, who was on the bench a week ago, showed resilience and the O-line kept Fields largely clean (2 sacks) and paved the way for 114 rushing yards, most of which came in the fourth quarter when the Steelers clinched the game. Najee Harris ran for 70 yards, the most on his team, including a long run of 21 yards.

“We played a lot of good football. Then the fourth quarter wasn't our best,” said Los Angeles head coach Jim Harbaugh. “We didn't have the right field position and we didn't finish it. Not every game ends like a fairy tale. The Steelers deserve credit in all three phases at the end.”

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Reception line

The Steelers finally saw signs of life from wide receivers not named George Pickens. Calvin Austin's 55-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter changed the perspective of a very close game that resulted in a semi-convincing victory.

Austin caught four passes for 95 yards, Pat Freiermuth had a strong second half (four catches, 33 yards) and Scotty Miller (2 receptions, 31 yards) had a crucial first-down catch on third and short that ultimately set up Fields' first touchdown.

Sales battle turned

The Steelers lost the turnover battle—the only turnover of the game was Justin Fields' interception, which bounced and bounced in the air before being caught by Bud Dupree—but still won the game.

“I shouldn't have thrown the ball; it deflected,” Fields said. “But at the end of the day, I should have either gone to the other side of the field, thrown it into the flat side because they were so soft, or just thrown the ball away, especially since we were already in field goal range at the 40-yard line. That can't happen again.”

In almost 70 percent of cases, the team with the highest turnover margin wins the game.