Sunday was a really important day for the Pittsburgh Steelers defensively. They struggled mightily in the past two weeks and faced a tough matchup against an Indianapolis Colts offense that rolled into this game playing at a historically good level.

Things didn’t get off to the greatest start. The Colts scored on their first drive and had a chance to jump out to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter. However, T.J. Watt got a strip-sack, and a defense that couldn’t force a turnover for almost a month had five takeaways while special teams produced another in the Steelers’ 27-20 win.

“The turnovers played a huge factor,” Cam Heyward said after the game, via Steelers.com. “We got pressure early, and we really put our foot on the gas with that. When you do that, it makes a team one-dimensional. And it felt like they were just playing hurry up the entire game.”

Watt’s strip-sack triggered a landslide of turnovers. The Colts had all the momentum for most of the first quarter, but early turnovers gave the Steelers a chance. The Steelers recovered a muffed punt just before that, and after Watt’s sack, more takeaways included a Derrick Harmon fumble recovery and interceptions by Payton Wilson, Jack Sawyer and Joey Porter Jr. The Steelers were batting balls down all day, Ramsey included.

Forcing turnovers certainly helped. And it’s now the second game on the season in which the Steelers have recorded at least five takeaways in a game they won by seven points. However, compared to their two previous games, it really was much-improved showing.

The Steelers’ defense had no answers throughout the game against Cincinnati. However, the Steelers did have a 16-7 halftime lead against Green Bay last week. They failed to carry that momentum into the second half, giving up 28 points over the final two quarters. This time, things were much better. The Steelers did allow some late scores. But those were more garbage-time touchdowns than anything, and the Steelers were playing prevent during those drives.

Few expected them to, but the Steelers ended up controlling Sunday’s game. And in large part because of their defense. It still needs to be more consistent going forward, but it certainly is an encouraging showing from the unit.