By Jordan Long
The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to open training camp on July 28th. Pittsburgh is hoping to make it further in the playoffs than they did last year. They were beaten by the Cleveland Browns in the Wild-Card Round 48-37. Pittsburgh should make another playoff appearance. They have decided to add another pass rusher to the team, Melvin Ingram.
Pittsburgh’s defense was able to create pressure on offensive quarterbacks. They sometimes blitzed or just used their defensive line to get to the quarterback. Those were often overthrows which could equal turnovers. Pittsburgh forced 18 interceptions which tied with New Orleans, New England, and Miami as the best in the NFL. The best part of the Pittsburgh defense was the ability to sack the quarterback. Pittsburgh led the league last year with 56 sacks.
In the playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh tried to blitz. It was picked up by the Brown’s offensive line. They protected quarterback Baker Mayfield who had time to throw the football to find his open receivers for first downs or longer. Mayfield didn’t feel any pressure and wasn’t sacked or hit in the game which was the difference.
Heading into training camp, the Steelers wanted to improve their pass rushing. They couldn’t do much better in the regular season, but the playoff loss showed they needed to improve. Pittsburgh had a void since defensive end Bud Dupree decided to go to Tennessee in the offseason. He agreed to a 5 year, $82.5 million contract. Dupree ended up with 8 sacks and 15 quarterback hits last season. In his career for Pittsburgh, Dupree totaled 39.5 sacks and 65 quarterback hits. Pittsburgh needed to replace him on the team.
The Steelers decided to sign free agent defensive end Melvin Ingram as Dupree’s replacement. Ingram appeared in 7 games last year for the L.A. Chargers. He missed most of the season dealing with a knee injury. He didn’t record a sack for the first time in his career but was still able to apply pressure on the quarterback with 5 quarterback hits. The Chargers decided to let him walk at the end of the year.
It took a while for him to be on another franchise. The Steelers decided he was the best pass rusher left in free agency, agreeing to a 1-year contract with him. The financial terms weren’t announced. According to ESPN.com, Ingram said, “I met with Coach [Mike] Tomlin. You can tell he’s very involved and a players’ coach. That’s what stood out to me. He wants to win, and that is what I am on. My role is my role. He just told me to come in and be me. Everyone knows how I play.”
In his career, Ingram has shown he can be a defender who quarterbacks need to know where he is lined up on the defensive line because Ingram can avoid a block and take down the quarterback. Teams have to double team him but when they do, a teammate is unblocked to record a sack. When healthy he is one of the best defensive ends in the game. He has 49 sacks and 108 quarterback hits in his 9 years in the NFL. Those should help Pittsburgh.
Ingram should be healthy and ready to go for camp. This deal on paper should make the Steelers defense even better. A 1-year contract is fair for Ingram and Pittsburgh. He must show last year’s injuries are behind him. The worst case is he spends time on the injury list. Pittsburgh will then decide to move on from him in the 2022 offseason. This was a smart move by Pittsburgh. They hope this will help them make a Super Bowl run. They haven’t advanced to the Super Bowl since Super Bowl 45 when they lost to the Green Bay Packers 31-25. Hopefully, they can end that drought.
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