The Steelers Defense will be an interesting group to slot for 2022, in fantasy terms. It was this year, too, with it clear there were some age and personnel issues, especially in the secondary. With Ben Roethlisberger retiring, the team itself could be headed for a steep decline.
The problem is that while it's easy to say the team will be a loser and will struggle in some defensive areas, it remains in the midst of an unprecedented run of success in another. Despite its problems in 2021, most notably finishing last in run defense, it still led the NFL with 55 sacks. Incredibly, that's the fifth year in a row it's finished with the top pass rush in the league.
Table sorted by total sacks the last five years. Pittsburgh was No. 1 in each of those seasons, so of course it's also No. 1 (by a wide margin) on a cumulative basis. They've got 31 more sacks than the 2nd-place Rams.
| TEAM SACKS, 2017-2021 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Total |
| Pittsburgh | 56 | 52 | 54 | 56 | 55 | 273 |
| LA Rams | 48 | 41 | 50 | 53 | 50 | 242 |
| New Orleans | 42 | 49 | 51 | 45 | 46 | 233 |
| Washington | 42 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 38 | 219 |
| Arizona | 37 | 49 | 40 | 48 | 41 | 215 |
| Minnesota | 37 | 50 | 48 | 23 | 51 | 209 |
| Chicago | 42 | 50 | 32 | 35 | 49 | 208 |
| Carolina | 50 | 35 | 53 | 29 | 39 | 206 |
| Philadelphia | 38 | 44 | 43 | 49 | 29 | 203 |
| Tampa Bay | 22 | 38 | 47 | 48 | 47 | 202 |
| Green Bay | 37 | 44 | 41 | 41 | 39 | 202 |
| Denver | 33 | 44 | 40 | 42 | 36 | 195 |
| Baltimore | 41 | 43 | 37 | 39 | 34 | 194 |
| San Francisco | 30 | 37 | 48 | 30 | 48 | 193 |
| Kansas City | 31 | 52 | 45 | 32 | 31 | 191 |
| Cleveland | 34 | 37 | 38 | 38 | 43 | 190 |
| Seattle | 39 | 43 | 28 | 46 | 34 | 190 |
| Jacksonville | 55 | 37 | 47 | 18 | 32 | 189 |
| Dallas | 38 | 39 | 39 | 31 | 41 | 188 |
| Buffalo | 27 | 36 | 44 | 38 | 42 | 187 |
| Tennessee | 43 | 39 | 43 | 19 | 43 | 187 |
| New England | 42 | 30 | 47 | 24 | 36 | 179 |
| Indianapolis | 25 | 38 | 41 | 40 | 33 | 177 |
| Miami | 30 | 31 | 23 | 41 | 48 | 173 |
| LA Chargers | 43 | 38 | 30 | 27 | 35 | 173 |
| Houston | 32 | 43 | 31 | 34 | 32 | 172 |
| NY Giants | 27 | 30 | 36 | 40 | 34 | 167 |
| NY Jets | 28 | 39 | 35 | 31 | 33 | 166 |
| Cincinnati | 41 | 34 | 31 | 17 | 42 | 165 |
| Detroit | 35 | 43 | 28 | 24 | 30 | 160 |
| Atlanta | 39 | 37 | 28 | 29 | 18 | 151 |
| Las Vegas | 31 | 13 | 32 | 21 | 35 | 132 |
But all isn't rosy for the Steelers, even with Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt leading that pass rush, which is why they won't be 2022's top fantasy defense -- maybe not necessarily in the top 10. Over the last five years, they've finished 7th in takeaways, which is impressive, but that's largely due to two season where they finished 1st or 2nd. In three of five they're ranked outside the top 12. That includes slipping to 14th last season. Breaking in a new, probably lesser quarterback, unlikely they'll be playing with a lot of leads next year, and seems more likely they'll continue to slip in that regard.
| TEAM TAKEAWAYS, 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Defense | Take | Rk |
| Dallas | 34 | 1 |
| Indianapolis | 33 | 2 |
| Buffalo | 30 | 3 |
| New England | 30 | 3 |
| Kansas City | 29 | 5 |
| Tampa Bay | 29 | 5 |
| Arizona | 27 | 7 |
| Green Bay | 26 | 8 |
| Miami | 26 | 8 |
| Houston | 25 | 10 |
| LA Rams | 25 | 10 |
| New Orleans | 25 | 10 |
| Minnesota | 24 | 13 |
| NY Giants | 22 | 14 |
| Pittsburgh | 22 | 14 |
| Tennessee | 22 | 16 |
| Cincinnati | 21 | 17 |
| LA Chargers | 21 | 17 |
| Atlanta | 20 | 19 |
| San Francisco | 20 | 19 |
| Cleveland | 19 | 21 |
| Denver | 19 | 21 |
| Detroit | 19 | 21 |
| Washington | 19 | 21 |
| Seattle | 18 | 25 |
| Carolina | 16 | 26 |
| Chicago | 16 | 26 |
| Philadelphia | 16 | 26 |
| Baltimore | 15 | 29 |
| Las Vegas | 15 | 29 |
| NY Jets | 14 | 31 |
| Jacksonville | 9 | 32 |
A lot of offseason ahead of us. Maybe the Steelers end up with a better quarterback than Mason Rudolph, making things look more promising, and maybe they add another elite defender in the Draft or free agency.
But if I were putting together defensive rankings right now, I'm not sure Pittsburgh would make the top 10. Maybe 12-14. Secondary concerns and a lousy run defense look like a bad mix.
--Andy Richardson