The Dallas Cowboys have secured their place in the NFL playoffs, while the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to fight for one of the coveted AFC Wildcard openings. Dan Quinn put together one of the best defenses in the league in Dallas. Through 16 weeks, the Cowboys have the NFL’s No. 7 defense, allowing opponents to pass for just under 300 yards per game so far. While the Pittsburgh Steelers had most of their struggles on the offensive side of the ball — and eventually parted ways with offensive coordinator Matt Canada — they showed life in their upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Surprisingly, the Steelers have a surprising amount of talent like TJ Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick and their 2023 first round NFL draft pick Joey Porter Jr. to run defenses at times and currently ranks 21st in the NFL in passing with 348 yards. about the game. A bright spot? Pittsburgh has played its best defense when it matters most, allowing just 29 touchdowns to opponents this season. Only five other NFL teams have pledged less in 2023. The Pittsburgh Steelers sign former Dallas Cowboys star Jaylon Smith
As Mike Tomlin and company try to make a late playoff push, they’ve added a potential game-changing defense, according to reports Tuesday night.Jaylon Smith signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers and could be a valuable piece on a defense that needs help complimenting TJ Watt, according to his agent. Although it was considered a gamble at the time, the Dallas Cowboys selected the former Notre Dame star with the 34th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Smith was recovering from a serious knee injury and did not see the field in his first season in the league. But in 2017, Jaylon Smith was fully healthy and began to show his potential. Smith finished his second NFL season in 2017 with 81 combined tackles (50 solo), two sacks, two forced fumbles and one sack in 16 games and six starts. Smith has shown he can break up a game In 2018, Smith finally showed the NFL world what he’s really capable of when fully healthy.
Smith finished with four sacks, 121 total tackles, four passes defensed and two forced fumbles. He was ranked number 61 on the 2019 Top 100 NFL Players. His 2018 production earned the versatile linebacker a five-year, $64 million contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys, with $35.5 million guaranteed, keeping him under contract through the 2024 season. He finished the 2019 campaign with 2.5 sacks, 142 tackles, one interception, nine pass breakups and two forced fumbles. He was ranked number 88 on the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2020. Jaylon Smith had another productive season in 2020, finishing the year with 1.5 sacks, 145 tackles, one interception and five pass breakups.
