Labriola in the win against the Broncos

They have the best individual defensive players in the NFL, but this is becoming more of an episode of the TJ Watt Show. The 2024 Steelers defense is talented, and it's the primary reason the team is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2020. It also seems to be becoming a one-man team.

“They have to be a catalyst for us,” coach Mike Tomlin said of his defense, “and they know it.”

The defense could be seen as the catalyst in Sunday's 13-6 win over the Broncos in Denver, the same a week after the 18-10 win over the Falcons in Atlanta. Or perhaps a more accurate perspective would be to see units as their security blanket.

A security blanket, because even with minimal offensive production — 13 points, 1 touchdown a week after 18 points and no touchdowns — there's a growing sense that unless someone makes the mistake of putting the defense in a really bad spot, or showing up on the scoreboard as a defensive touchdown, right away. Worse, then everything will be fine.

“We have a veteran team,” Tomlin said matter-of-factly. “We've had a lot of talent over the years to be quite honest with you. I expected (that level of performance) to be appreciated, but certainly expected.”

Expected and necessary, especially at this early stage of a season and a process that has put together a new offensive coordinator; 3 new quarterbacks and a new assistant coach to work with them; Young offensive linemen who are either rookies or new to the starting lineup, or both; And there's a lack of proven depth behind George Pickens and a similar batch of tight ends behind Pat Freiremuth.

This offense isn't flashy or relentlessly effective, and certainly nowhere near prolific. The next section comes down to how one chooses to perceive their nearnesses, here used as a term for the handful of plays affected/cancelled by punishment. Do you see these as evidence of an impending/imminent change, or as indictments of a unit still doing the same kind of self-sabotage in games that we saw in early August during the preseason opener.

On the Steelers' second series of the game, for example, Justin Fields engineered a 12-play, 78-yard drive that historians will record as the first touchdown of the 2024 regular season, and that tabulating style points. Admittedly nicely done.

Fields converted both third downs on drives, one to allow some momentum to develop and the other to punctuate the end with an exclamation point. His 13-yard pass to Pickens converted a third-and-5 from the 27-yard line; His back-shoulder throw to Darnell Washington in the end zone was the way to place the ball based on coverage, and then it got even sweeter when the man known for his blocking turned in one of those nifty hand-catches. Tight ends who get paid a lot and/or a billionaire pop star squares off around town.

The mixed offensive line had Jaylen Warren turning loose for 18 yards on 3 carries, plus a few plays where Fields flashed the rare skill-set that led to him ending up as the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. He used his feet to take advantage of the crease in the pass rush and made it 16 yards, and then he was timely and on-target to Freiremuth for a 14-yard hookup that got the Steelers close enough to go with it. Fade to back-shoulder Washington.

Chris Boswell's PAT with 1:56 left in the first quarter sailed into the pipes for a 7-0 lead, but it turned out to be a fluke.

Even when the offense hammered itself in the head with penalties that denied hunks of yardage and turned promising possessions into 8 punts launched by recently signed Corliss Weightman and then proceeded with an offensive pass interference penalty that took a touchdown off the board, the defense was . It was for befuddled and distracted rookie quarterback Bo Nix, and by extension frustrated coach and play-caller Sean Payton.

The perfect example of this came with the Steelers leading 10-0 midway through the third quarter. Payton reached into his bag of tricks and pulled a rabbit in the form of a direct snap to running back Javonte Williams who then pitched to Nix, originally wide, who then threw downfield where WR Josh Reynolds completed the play at the 49. -Yard gain at the 7-yard line. To make matters worse CB Donte Jackson limped on the play and had to be replaced by Corey Trice Jr., whose entire regular season resume only included the 7 defensive snaps he played in the opener vs. the Falcons.

Yet on his second snap of the game, which happened to be the 9th of his career, Trice responded to having no receiver in his area by sliding toward the middle of the end zone where he was in perfect position to get between the Knicks and his target. Target: WR Courtland Sutton. And the cherry on top was that when the Knicks threw the ball anyway, Trice made interceptions like a seasoned ball-blitz.

“We felt like we were getting close with pressure all day, and for Corey to make a play like that in a big moment was huge,” Watt said, “but we're not surprised. We love to make plays. We love to watch. The plays that are going to be made, but we're trying not to overdo it and trust each other to be better as a defense.”

Other examples were a Damontae Kazee score-sealing interception, and Isaiahh Loudermilk getting a paw and batting a ball at the line of scrimmage on third-and-6 from the 16-yard line that turned a potential fumble into a red-zone field goal. Mix in simple watt plays; Alex Highsmith had a sack and two tackles for loss; DeShawn Elliott has been around the ball enough to lead the team with 9 tackles; Joey Porter made junior Courtland Sutton the other guy tied for fifth on his team in receptions, and that was good enough.

That was good enough because Fields didn't turn the ball over and Smith's play-calling did his part to limit the chances of that happening. It's unrealistic to expect such a formula to continue generating regular season wins, but in the meantime it's working. One certainty is that the formula's shelf-life isn't long enough for the Steelers to pile up enough wins to make it into the postseason and once they get there.

But as they continue to work on turning the offense into something more efficient and productive, that's what they have.

“I'm always asking for more from (the defense), because they have a lot to offer,” Tomlin said. “Obviously, when the offense faces some of the challenges they face in terms of lineups and non-regulars in hostile environments, (the defense) knows that.”

And what's better than knowing it, is developing more people capable of contributing to it.