Steelers’ defense is one game shy of a franchise-record run of sacks

In Week 1 and Week 2, the Steel Curtain defense looked more like a shower curtain, allowing 65 total points and averaging only 1.5 sacks per game. Since then, the Pittsburgh defense has looked more like its old self, with fewer than 15 points per game allowed and 17 total sacks.

The Steelers have had at least five sacks in each of the last three games. Per NBC Sports research, the Steelers have never put together a string of four straight games with five or more sacks in team history.

It covers a 62-year span; even though individual sacks became an official statistic in 1982, the NFL began tracking team sacks in 1963. Which means that none of the great Steelers defenses of the ‘70s went four games in a row with five or more sacks.

On Thursday night, the Steelers can do it for the first time ever against the Bengals.

Linebacker T.J. Watt has 3.5 of the sacks from the last three games, after going without a single sacks in the first two weeks of the season.