Regardless of who may be responsible, the inevitable conclusion has to be that the Pittsburgh Steelers have had among the best defenses in the NFL in recent years. They have, for example, been historically good at getting after the quarterback, posting 50-plus sacks for three straight seasons. They have also finished first or second in takeaways in the past two years.
Inevitably, the nominal defensive coordinator is going to receive credit or blame based on what his unit is doing. And Pro Football Focus recently ranked Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler as the third-best defensive play-caller in the NFL going into the upcoming season, Eric Eager writing:
The Steelers tied for second in the NFL in yards per play allowed while generating pressure and knocking down the quarterback both at a rate roughly four percentage points higher than any other defense in 2020.