The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has a turnover dependency problem

LOS ANGELES — The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense was put on multiple short fields, was on the field for over 37 minutes, and played over 70 snaps with the Chargers controlling the ball, and despite a fine performance, the defenders are not happy.

Steelers star outside linebacker T.J. Watt says the team can not rely on turnovers every game to try and win moving forward. Against the Chargers offense, Pittsburgh forced zero turnovers, though the Chargers were held to just six of 17 on third downs.

“Inconsistent as it could be, too much up and down,” Watt said. “We can’t continue to live and die by turnovers as a defense, we need to get off the field. We need to stop the run. Critical third downs, e need to do a better job.”

Steelers team captain Cam Heyward said at times, the Steelers defense simply needs to hunker down and get off the field. On Sunday, they did that far more often than they have in many of their previous matchups.

Yet, coming off the six turnover performance against the Colts, it was disheartening for the defense to to grab another turnover in this game, which Heyward wants to see them do.

“It’s very true,” Heyward said on Watt’s statement. “That’s about trusting your guy and it’s not about being a superhero. You don’t have to make an extravagant play.”

Sunday felt like a step in the right direction on that front. The Chargers got their offense going off Steelers turnovers and short fields more than pummeling the Steelers defense.

It was the team’s offense that let them down through most of the game. Either way, the Steelers’ defense wants to see the constant evolution of themselves over the next few games, with a key test coming up against the Bengals.

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