Nov 6th 2008 10:00AM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Steelers, AFC North

When the Steelers shut down Brandon Jacobs and the Giants running game, it was a pretty clear sign that Pittsburgh has fixed the run defense problems that cropped up late last season. But when the Steelers followed that up by shutting down NFL leading rusher Clinton Portis, they showed that they can take the game’s best running backs and shut them down.

Portis came into the game having rushed for at least 120 yards and averaged at least 5.0 yards per carry in each of his past five games. On Monday night, Portis rushed for 51 yards on 13 carries, averaging only 3.9 yards a carry. He had a 22-yard run on his third run of the game, then rushed for only 27 yards on his final 10 carries.

So how do the Steelers do it? In rewatching how the Steelers slowed down Portis, the first thing that jumps out is that the Steelers focus more on shutting down the run than most teams. The cornerbacks are coached to fly up in run support, strong safety Troy Polamalu is as much of a linebacker as a defensive back, the four starting linebackers are all strong enough to shed blockers on plays run at them, but also fast enough to track down plays run away from them.
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