The Pittsburgh Steelers' defense has dominated the rest of the NFL so far in the 2024 regular season. Pittsburgh's defense allows the second fewest points scored per game and has the fourth most takeaways in the league with 15. Unfortunately, star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick hasn't been able to create the thrilling plays that the fan base is used to seeing. His game-flipping turnovers have dropped drastically over the course of the last two seasons, but that could change now that Pittsburgh will be getting back a key defender in the secondary.
The Steelers acquired Fitzpatrick through a trade with the Miami Dolphins in 2019, which wound up being a brilliant move by the front office. In Fitzpatrick's first four seasons with the team all the way through 2022, the star safety collected 17 interceptions, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and three defensive touchdowns. Since the start of 2023, even though he was sidelined for a part of the 2023 campaign, Fitzpatrick's numbers have plummeted.
Through 18 games, Fitzpatrick has not recorded a single interception, forced fumble or fumble recovery. As each game goes by without a big play from Fitzpatrick, the fan base grows more concerned. The coaching staff seems unfazed, however, by the lack of splash plays from their star safety.
"The great thing about Cam [Sutton] is his versatility, man. He's a utility back," Tomlin said. "He's played outside corner, he's played inside corner. He's played safety, he's played dime. And really I think that's the value in him, particularly at the early stages of working him back into the fold. His ability to fit in wherever needed is really, really important to us. It's more about just positioning Cam to be effective, playing the jersey game, if you will. In the past he's allowed Minkah [Fitzpatrick] to move around some because he's an interchangeable part with Minkah."
In Sutton's six seasons with Pittsburgh, he grabbed eight interceptions and had forced six fumbles. He only got one interception last season with Detroit, but he'll be more comfortable back in Tomlin's defense. The unit has already done a great job of creating turnovers, and that's been without Fitzpatrick being included. If he and Sutton can start creating some splash themselves, then the defense could carry the team all the way through the playoffs.
Filling Sutton's role in the slot through his suspension in 2024 has been undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop Jr., who has made some big plays himself so far. Bishop has three picks already this season, two of which came against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets. Tomlin also said during the interview that both Sutton and Bishop will find ways onto the field, maybe even at the same time.
Steelers' Struggle Area On Defense Is Shocking
The Steelers have dominated defensively when it comes to stopping the run and not allowing a lot of points. They're also 11th in third down percentage and third in fewest first downs allowed. Surprisingly, Pittsburgh's defensive front only has 19 sacks, which is the tenth fewest in the NFL.
Pittsburgh led the league in sacks for five consecutive seasons (2017-2021) until TJ Watt's pectoral injury in 2022. Since then, collectively, Pittsburgh hasn't been able to generate as many sacks, even though it seems like the defense is always getting to the quarterback.
The drop in sacks could also be a result of teams purposely getting the ball out faster. By now, everyone knows the plethora of pass rushers that Pittsburgh has on its roster. Also, Watt is constantly getting chipped or double-teamed. With Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and now Preston Smith, the group can wreck games extremely fast.
