Compare Steelers defense to jets.

We pay the most for defense and they get gutted against every good offense. The jets d was flying around crushing people. We need to blow the whole thing up. Start with firing head cheerleader and the stiff oc Canada

 

Yep. The Steelers aren't getting ideal ROI on defense. ILBs are still an issue, CBs are not up to standard, Heyward is out indefinitely and Fitz had a major whiff on Purdy that was mindboggling. Highsmith had a lackluster game. Watt is the only one earning his paycheck.

 

what does canada have to do with the defense? how about the DC? it's his show that is under preforming.

 

To much Cover 2 and Zone Coverage .. Offenses and QB'S are just to good to continue your best blitz is zone blitz.. Teams all but dare us to blitz,,the proper way to blitz now is out of Cover 0 or Cover 1 ..We don't have the guys needed to play that .. Until this Defense can man up they will continue to get gashed...

 

Front 7 looked good until injuries. Secondary is still a work in progress. They’ll get the communication worked out.

 

It's bad all over.

 

As @HeinzMustard stated, some of these evaluations (or horrific ones) have either caught up to this defense or will catch up to it soon. Chief among them is ILB; a position that the Steelers as a whole simply cannot figure out since the unfortunate retirement of Ryan Shazier. It has not been for a lack of trying though as they have thrown everything at the literal wall to hope something sticks; trading up for Devin Bush Jr., multiple trades for players like Joe Schobert and Avery Williamson to even paying Myles Jack the big bucks.


All ended in disaster sadly. This befalls the likes of members affiliated within the Scouting Department, Kevin Colbert, Omar Kahn, Teryl Austin, Jerry Olsavsky and Mike Tomlin for the inability to find even a good ILB. Mark Robinson remains to be seen but Elandon and Kwon hopefully are hits; same goes for Aaron Curry.


Cornerback is another discussion all together for the team actually has more hits than misses since 2017. That said, with the exception of Cam Sutton and maybe James Pierre, the rest have been either trades to FA signings. Little home grown talent to be had there. Joey Porter Jr and hopefully Cory Trice Jr can change that but time will tell for both.



One final aspect to add to what @HeinzMustard has alluded to; Interior Defensive Lineman. Beyond DeMarvin Leal and Keeanu Benton.... anyone else?!?! Isaiahh Loudermilk is depth at this point but these three are truly, more or less what the team has. Larry Ogunjobi has shown all of us he cannot be trusted to be counted on long term. Montravius Adams is good but is very limited as a Nose Tackle.



In short?! Given Cam Heyward's injury and the lack of a true blue chip at IDL, don't be surprised if the Steelers elect to hit the trenches early again come 2024; particularly along the interior for both Offense and Defense.

 

Peyton said

We so underinvested D line and O line draft adding shiny toys for Ben and then whiffed on drafts that put us further back when we thought certain positions were cured by the draft. A combination of things but if your front 3 or 4 defensive linemen cannot control the trenches and put pressure on the QB's without LB support in todays league you are likely to be shredded by blue chip QB's.

 

Tomlin seems enamored with that 4 man pass rush because it puts more into coverage but that has blown up on them time and time again. Sunday was the latest example. Rush 4 Purdee picked his targets. Send 5 and there is pressure. Wallace and Kazee had an absolutely terrible day. Wallace was 5 yards past his man sitting in the zone which was 5 yards past the 1st down marker. That should be a red flag for him. Get on your man, break it up.

 

Nothing will matter until Tomlin loses his veteran's fetish and starts using the young guys in a regular rotation

 

You mean Tomlin ?

 

You're leaving out the fact that the Jets have sucked for over a decade, and getting those top 10 draft picks sure helps.

 

When Tomlin was hired, He was known as a young hotshot Defensive Coach... Specializing in the Defensive Backfield...

How?

 

I didn't expect much from Highsmith in the 49ers game, he was going up against a guy many think is the best LT in the league.

 

And Highsmith is now paid like he’s one of the highest paid OLBs in the league. Based on what I saw Sunday, Highsmith was a non-factor. Hopefully he bounces back with a better performer against the Browns.

 

Well, I don't think TJ would've had 3 sacks if he had to face Trent Williams.

 

TJ will going up against the monstrous rookie from Ohio St Dawand Jones Monday night. At 6'8" and nearly 400 lbs it will be interesting to see if Jones has the quickness to try and stop Watt.

 

TJ has proven that he can get the job done against anyone across from him, Highsmith has not.

 

The OC has something to do with the D in that the O has zero sustained drives to give the D a blow, and puts up no scoring to help the momentum. The OC definitely has something to do with the D.

 

Fitzpatrick was invisible, which is a problem. He had his shot at a big play and whiffed. We already saw what the defense looks like without Heyward, who missed all but a few plays Sunday. That was not good. That doesn't mean the unit won't get better. I expect that it will. Fitzpatrick is better than that. I think the inside linebackers will be better, too. I wish I had that much confidence in the cornerbacks.

 

The offensive struggles do affect the defense. Spending so much time on the field was part of the problem Sunday, but the defense was also at fault for that. They couldn't get a stop.

 

Funny that everyone one dances around the one individual responsible for all of it. Oh well, nothing new. JMO>

 

You really think we have a lack of people attacking Tomlin on this board? You're funny.

 

If the Jets can win without "Gone in 60 Seconds" Rogers, we should be able to win without Cam. JMO>