Overlooked Starter Facing Criticism for Steelers Defensive Woes
The Pittsburgh Steelers had major issues trying to cover the Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers and place pressure on quarterback Joe Flacco in Week 7. But Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin blamed the run defense as much as anything for the team’s issues in Cincinnati.
On Thursday, former Steelers defensive lineman Chris Hoke had one player in mind to blame for the Steelers poor run defense — Keeanu Benton.
“Two of those [long runs allowed] were Keeanu Benton,” Hoke argued on Thursday’s The Pomp and Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan, via Steelers Depot’s Jeremy Pike. “He’s just got to be in his gap.
“I praised him a couple times over the last couple weeks about how he played; I think he played very, very well against the Vikings in Dublin. I think he had a sack and a half. He had a couple tackles for a loss. Played extremely well in terms of technique and leverage.
“Then this game, whether you’re trying to make a play, whatever you’re trying to do, it’s not consistent.”
Steelers’ Keeanu Benton Struggling to Take Next Step in Development
As Benton has gone this season, so has the Pittsburgh defense. Really, he has been a microcosm of the play from the Steelers defense this season.
Benton posted a below average Pro Football Focus player grade in run defense during the first three weeks of the season and in Week 7. In those four games, the Steelers allowed an average of 140 rushing yards per contest.
In Weeks 4 and 6, Benton recorded an average PFF run defense grade. During those two games, the Steelers yielded 135 rushing yards total.
PFF grades are not the end all, be all. Benton also hasn’t posted a PFF run defense grade above 61 (out of 100) in any game this season. So even in his better performances, Benton hasn’t been elite.
But it does appear that when he struggles to stay in his gap, the Steelers run defense experiences major issues.
The Steelers will enter Week 8 ranked 17th in rushing yards allowed per contest.
Another Former Steelers Player Criticizes Defensive Line
Hoke, who started 10 games for the Steelers No. 1-ranked defense in 2004, wasn’t the only former Pittsburgh player who didn’t like what he saw from the black and gold last week.
Former Steelers full back Merril Hodge didn’t call out Benton specifically. But Hodge was very critical of the Pittsburgh defensive line.
“The thing that was probably the most concerning was their defensive line kind of fell back into the first two weeks,” Hodge said during an appearance on 102.5 WDVE this week, via Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora. “How they kinda got manhandled. Cincinnati manhandled them up front.”
Simply put, that’s just not a recipe for success.
Benton has to play better, but so does the rest of the Steelers defensive line.
In six games this season, Benton has posted 12 combined tackles, including two tackles for loss. He also has five quarterback hits and 2.5 sacks.
At PFF, Benton has registered mostly ugly grades. He has excelled the most, according to the PFF grades, at rushing the passer.
Colin Cowherd stuns Bears fans with complimentary Caleb Williams commentary
There is a bit of uneasiness in Chicago after what Bears fans heard from polarizing FOX Sports radio host Colin Cowherd.
All Bears fans have typically either turned their televisions off or muted them whenever Cowherd has talked about their quarterback, Caleb Williams, especially during his rookie year. It was rough to see Williams take all the hits from Cowherd, even though other factors contributed to the team's struggles in 2024.
This season has been a bit different. In fact, it is starting to make a believer out of Cowherd.
While on his radio show this week, Cowherd had a segment comparing the first six games under Ben Johnson with Williams and Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Cowherd was impressed that there wasn't much of a difference, except for one key stat.
"Ben Johnson, when he was in Detroit was with Jared Goff and this morning we went, looked at Ben Johnson's first six games with Caleb Williams and his first six games with Jared Goff and you know what you see? Identical numbers. Caleb just wins more."
Williams is showing that he is on the right path for Chicago
So what are the numbers compared to each other for Goff and Williams? Here's a look at six different statistics between the two quarterbacks:
|
Stats (First Six Games Under Ben Johnson) |
Jared Goff (2022 Lions) |
Caleb Williams (2025 Bears) |
|---|---|---|
|
Record |
1-5 |
4-2 |
|
Team Points Per Game |
24.3 |
25.3 |
|
Pass TD-INT |
11-6 |
9-3 |
|
Completion Percentage |
62.3% |
61.1% |
|
Passer Rating |
98.6 |
92.9 |
|
Sacked |
12 |
11 |
All Bears fans know by now that the one weakness in Williams' game right now is his accuracy. That is something that Johnson has been working with him on as he has thrown more off-target passes over the last three games that the first three matches of the year.
Turnovers continue to be the big selling point for Williams as he is stellar at protecting the football. Last year, he had only six interceptions, even with Matt Eberflus as his head coach and one of the weakest offensive lines in the NFL.
Of course, it's all about winning in the NFL, and the Bears have done a lot of that to start the season. It's now been two years in a row under Williams as quarterback where the team has started with a 4-2 record.
Read more: Bears' latest Week 8 injury report reaches DEFCON 1 levels with latest additions
This should be evidence enough that, if people are worried about Williams, they shouldn't be. Johnson is working his magic on the Bears' franchise quarterback, and Williams is on the right track to being truly great.
