Heading into last Thursday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ run defense looked to be in a good spot. The Bengals had the worst rushing offense in the league. The Steelers’ run defense held the previous two opponents to under 100 yards rushing.
But things went sideways quickly, and it led to the Steelers’ defense as a whole struggling. They allowed the Bengals to rush for a season-high 142 yards in the 33-31 loss. Part of that was two big runs by Bengals RB Chase Brown. And former Steelers DL Chris Hoke saw issues with DL Keeanu Benton, especially on those plays.