The Pittsburgh Steelers defense did everything in its power to get into the playoffs last season. Pittsburgh barely missed the cut with an 8-8 record but don’t blame the effort of the Steelers defense for it. This unit played out of their minds all season and stepped up big late in games.
Pro Football Focus graded every fourth-quarter defense in the NFL last season and according to them, the Steelers were on top. This isn’t to say this group allowed the fewest points per game in the fourth quarter because they weren’t. In fact, the Steelers defense was No. 12 in the NFL last season in fourth-quarter points allowed with 5.6 per game.
However, when you look at the teams ranked ahead of the Steelers in scoring defense in the fourth quarter, none of them had to endure the offensive ineptitude Pittsburgh did. The Steelers fourth-quarterback offense was second to worst in the league with only 3.6 points per game.
