Ryan Shazier: When Steelers are ‘hitting on all cylinders, it’s hard for teams to really slow us down’

The Pittsburgh Steelers are back.

And as far as Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier is concerned, it isn’t only a one-week thing.

‘Our goal is to be the No. 1 defense in the league or top five’

He believes the Steelers’ 26-9 rebound victory against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday showed what he and his teammates are truly all about, especially after their Week 3 loss against Chicago.

“It was amazing just to be able to bounce back like this,” Shazier told Steve Torre and Bill Lekas on the Sunday Drive. “We have a really solid team and we know, when we’re hitting on all cylinders, it’s hard for teams to really slow us down. So we’re just trying to do whatever we can to be the best defense we can because our goal is to be the No. 1 defense in the league or top five.

‘We just did the best that we could and tried to get the ball to the offense as much as possible’

“And we just did the best that we could and tried to get the ball to the offense as much as possible, and I think that’s what we did (Sunday).”

It was more than a defensive effort that saw the Steelers intercept Joe Flacco twice, once by Shazier, and sack him four times. It also was an offense that saw Le’Veon Bell come back to life by rushing for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

‘Le’Veon’s a great player and when he’s running like that, when the offensive line’s blocking like that, it makes the game easier for everybody that’s out there’

“We were waiting for the juice to come back and he did,” Shazier said. “You know, Le’Veon’s a great player and when he’s running like that, when the offensive line’s blocking like that, it makes the game easier for everybody that’s out there. I’m happy just to see him back out there playing like himself and I think the defense played like ourselves (Sunday).

“And if we just keep playing like that, it’s going to be harder for other teams to beat (us).”