The Steelers' inability to stop the run allowed the Jaguars' run-pass-option to rush them right out of the playoffs last season. Even in today's pass-happy NFL, it's necessary to stop the run.
Jon Bostic has brought a steady presence to the middle of the Steelers' defense in containing opposing running backs.
The fundamentals of stopping the run still apply in today's NFL: Maintain gap integrity; win at the point of attack; don't miss your tackles. Keith Butler has been steadily working to develop a defense that maintains gap integrity across the board, but 2017 was the team's worst year against the run in his tenure.
The Steelers ranked 10th against the run in 2017 while allowing 105.8 rushing yards per game, but much of that was because of Ryan Shazier. In the 11 games Shazier played, the Steelers only had five games in which opponents averaged over four yards per carry. Without Shazier, four of their last five opponents averaged more than four yards per carry.
The addition of Bostic has helped solve that problem. The Steelers rank 11th so far in 2018, but their average is better, allowing only 97.8 rushing yards per game.
Those numbers look even better when you specifically look at how the Steelers have performed against running backs. In 2017, the Steelers gave up an average 4.44 yards per carry to backs and a total of 1,515 yards. That ranked 15th in rushing yards allowed against backs.
But in 2018, that average has dropped to 3.57 yards per carry. Their total of 400 yards in six games, for an average of 66.67 yards per game allowed to backs, places them 5th in the NFL.
If these trends hold, it would be a huge boost to the defense's bottom line. Bostic has been right in the middle of those improvements.
Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt have helped the Steelers' efforts by taking on double teams, not allowing offensive lines to open up huge holes where no defender can challenge the running back at the line of scrimmage.
On the long runs teams have broken against the Steelers, the problem has been missed tackles. We've been tracking missed tackles with our whiff chart in War Room all season, and so far the top culprits of missed tackles are Vince Williams and T.J. Watt, each with five, and Joe Haden and Sean Davis, each with four.
Watch how the Steelers' defensive front properly funnels the Browns' Carlos Hyde just outside the right tackle. You can see Watt keep contain and force Hyde right to Haden, but Haden missed in the hole and it turned into a 12-yard gain:
Having that presence in the hole makes all the difference. When Morgan Burnett was in that sub-package safety/linebacker spot, watch how slow he was to get to Kareem Hunt. By the time he gets to Hunt, he can't slow his momentum and the Chiefs have a 9-yard gain:
These have been the spots where the majority of the Steelers' rushing yards have been allowed. But having Bostic has added a player who allows the defense to flow from gap to gap.
Watch how he does just that against the Chiefs in the same game. Bostic (51) starts out the play by watching A-gap, between the center and guard, waiting for Hunt to pick his hole. As soon as Hunt accelerates to the edge, Bostic slides with him and gets to the point of attack, making the tackle for no gain:
Bostic's presence works as this defensive front learns how to play better together. Keeping edges and using both Heyward and Tuitt as those battering rams to take on double-teams and blow up offensive linemen allows for the interior linebackers and safeties to prowl freely and get aggressive against running backs.
Watch how Heyward shoves his man three yards behind the line, and then Bostic closes fast, while maintaining his gap discipline to finish the play with a solid tackle:
Those moments are vital to the defense's plan to stop the run on early downs and force offenses to become more one-dimensional by relying solely on the pass to win.
Bostic leads the Steelers in both total tackles with 37, and solo tackles with 24, all while having the 10th most snaps of any player on the defense. That shows how efficient he is. He has the least amount of snaps among the starting linebackers but leads the group in finding the ball.
As the season continues, keep looking for how the Steelers do against opposing running backs. While the pass defense has to improve, that job becomes that much easier when opposing offenses are forced into predictable passing situations.
