While the Pittsburgh Steelers defense remains among the top in the league, they no longer can hold claim to leading in the turnovers category. The Miami Dolphins now lead the league in turnovers with 26 to Pittsburgh’s 25.
In a matchup that was ripe for creating turnovers — defending Cincinnati Bengals third-string quarterback Ryan Finley — Pittsburgh did not create a one.
It was just the third game of the season in which the defense came away with nothing — last was Week 13 versus the Washington Football Team and the Tennessee Titans before that.
Steelers defensive coordinator talked about the importance of generating turnovers in a Thursday press conference.
Steelers DC Keith Butler pic.twitter.com/c5ms7oLB30
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 24, 2020
“The turnovers come when you’re ball searching,” Butler explained. “Mike [Tomlin] talks about this all the time with the defense. He’s talking about getting the ball out, punching the ball out, causing a fumble, getting interceptions. All that stuff matters — big time.”
Pittsburgh’s Week 16 opponent, the Indianapolis Colts — has been doing a great job securing the football. They’ve committed just nine turnovers this season and haven’t allowed one since Week 12. The good news is they faced the Houston Texans twice and the Las Vegas Raiders once. The Steelers defense is more dominant than both those teams combined and will look to turn it around at Heinz Field on Sunday.
Butler pointed to another area that matters big time. Holding offenses to field goals. “We can’t let them score seven points. The challenge for us is keeping them out of the endzone as much as we possibly can.”
