For most of the last 20 years, the Steelers have had one of the best run defenses, but it's slipped this season. Two weeks in a row, they've allowed 197 rushing yards and 3 TD runs. Looks promising for Buffalo in Week 10.
The only teams Pittsburgh has held under 110 rushing yards have been the Jets and Ravens. New York was starting Bilal Powell at tailback. The Ravens simply haven't been able to run against anyone.
So in theory, Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller should be very good against this defense.
On the following chart, most of the numbers are self-explanatory. The letter grade is how I would score them (relative to the quality of the opponent). For the Raiders game, I went with a D rather than an F because a big chunk of the production came on the long TD run by Terrelle Pryor early -- after that, Pittsburgh was pretty good in that game.
| Steelers Against The Run | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Grade |
| Tenn. | 42 | 112 | 2.7 | 1 | A |
| at Cin. | 34 | 127 | 3.7 | 1 | B |
| Chi. | 28 | 107 | 3.8 | 2 | B- |
| Min. (Eng.) | 25 | 145 | 5.8 | 2 | D |
| at NYJ | 20 | 83 | 4.2 | 0 | B |
| Balt. | 26 | 82 | 3.2 | 0 | B |
| at Oak. | 38 | 197 | 5.2 | 3 | D |
| at N.E. | 35 | 197 | 5.6 | 3 | F |
--Ian Allan