The scene was set for the Pittsburgh Steelers to rack up sacks on Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, only the curtain was never pulled back. Not only is it surprising because the Steelers had the most sacks by a wide margin over the Buffalo Bills, but Stroud was tied as the fourth-most sacked quarterback.
It’s been nearly a calendar year since Pittsburgh finished a game with a goose egg in the sacks column (no sacks on Tua Tagovailoa in Week 7, 2022).
The defensive unit we’ve been gushing over for the pressure put on opposing quarterbacks got nothing today.
There were plenty of opportunities to make it happen — only it didn’t.
Tomlin pointed to the Texans' run game to why the defense had no sacks. He said they were on schedule and had rhythm passing. #Steelers #NFL
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) October 1, 2023
“They ran that football with some backups in there,” Tomlin said after the 30-6 loss. “They stayed on schedule and minimized our opportunities… if they’re on schedule, it’s rhythm passing. When they play to their agenda, they really get an opportunity to neutralize the rush. We just got to do a better job against the run for sure.”
Pittsburgh came into Week 4 as the second-worst run defense in the league, allowing 5.2 yards per carry for 151.7 yards a game. Surrendering 139 yards to five different Texans certainly doesn’t bode well for their ranking.
Zero sacks on 44 attempts are unheard of from a usually ferocious Steelers pass rush. But credit to Houston, who kept Stroud clean for a second consecutive week for all four quarters.
