Steelers Defense Dominates '7 Shots' Again, As DBs Step Up In Big Way

On Wednesday, the offense scored two touchdowns to start, but the defense held them down after that. Notable standouts from Thursday’s “7 Shots” include defensive back, Tre Norwood. He had two pass breakups, and he’ll need more of that to make the 53-man roster for a third consecutive season. While he has shown flashes in his two years in Pittsburgh, Norwood saw less playing time in 2022 due to inconsistencies.

That has boiled over into training camp, as our own Brandon “B-Wall” Wallace reported that the Oklahoma product has been inconsistent at camp so far. He’ll need it even more so because there have been several standouts from camp so far in that defensive back room. Notably, West Virginia product, Kenny Robinson and journeyman, Elijah Riley have stepped up in the absence of the starters. 

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Speaking of, Robinson also had a pass breakup in one of the last few reps. With the team's top three safeties out, Robinson and Norwood were actually the first-team safeties on Thursday. Elsewhere, Alex Highsmith continued to show tremendous signs on Thursday. He had a breakout season in 2022, which included a career-high 14.5 sacks, and signed a huge four-year, $68 million contract extension recently. 

That hasn’t slowed him down though, as he’s arguably been the defense’s best player in training camp to this point. He’s been very disruptive, and it's disrupted some of the offensive line's rhythm. Overall, the quarterbacks had their fair share of struggles on Thursday. Pickett went 1-for-4, which did include that touchdown strike to Pickens. Backup, Mitch Trubisky went 0-for-3, which included a throw behind receiver, Hakeem Butler. 

Overall, this is not a great sign for an offense that struggled a ton in 2022, particularly in the red zone. In fact, the crowd is cheering for moments when the offense does well according to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. It may sound silly, but things are typically the opposite in Latrobe. At this point, fans just want to see some improvement on the offensive side of the ball. The overall success of the 2023 season may depend on Pickett and co.

With the defense dominating the last few days, are you starting to become concerned about the offense yet? What does the offense need to do to get rid of those red zone struggles from last season? Who has been the main surprises from camp so far?