The Steelers new DC speaks to the media

Thats the thing too. They draft some good dline guys in an effort to bolster the battle the battle in the trenches and then make the announcement that they will play more subpackage formations that by design create huge gaps in run stoppage. All this while having an owner than strongly supports shutting down the run as the top priority. It's going to be a work in progress.

 

All of the above

 

I agree with you here.

I'm an "I'll believe it when I see it" kind of guy.

But I am interested (and maybe a bit excited) to see what another defensive mind can do with this group. I think we saw glimpses of that when Flores was here (not saying that Graham is at Flores' level though).

 

I got no problem with seeing what a new POV brings to the table....but the level of excitement and high expectations the Steelers internet has set for Graham is getting way out of proportion.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/GrahPa0.htm

That is is his track record. He has helmed some bad defenses.

I am having a hard time seeing why everyone assumes that different will be better. Different has a pretty poor statistical track record. And different isn't some fresh-faced youngster working out the kinks in his innovative approach. This is an established NFL coach that has a over 5 year track record of "meh".

And to be fair and balanced...Austin's wasn't glittering before he showed up in Pittsburgh either.

 

We were also 5th in sacks, 4th in forced turnovers, and 17th(our real down fall) in points allowed. You don't win , or lose games by yards.

 

It's called finding something that works. You don't just run a certain scheme, or formation if it's not working . That's why I laugh at people that said we never change anything. Hell we changed stuff week to week for people with the eyes to see it.

 

yeah. You have an outgoing coaching staff that had spent several off season cycles working towards playing more base defense. Roster construction reflects that.

now new staff says back to nickel.

That’s not something you can just instantly do. I don’t think they currently have enough safeties on the roster to do it. But I could be missing someone.

Also looking around the league; teams that spend a bunch of time in nickel usually have an offense that puts up points. Forces other teams to pass more.

Steelers don’t have that. And until they prove otherwise, they’re not great at stopping the run.

Why wouldn’t you just run until the stop it? Takes away the pass rush as well.

But there’s many reasons no NFL team asks for my insight. So I’ll hope for the best.

 

Points per game are the only stat that matters

 

Yes, assuming that you have more points than the other team in the end. Doesn't matter if you win 3-2, or 50-0.

 

Exactly

The team that gives up the least points wins

 

In 2025 we had good talent on defense. Men who can create sacks and turnovers. This is true. But we had lousy coaching and finished as a group 27th out of 32 teams on defense. So ...

Are you suggesting we should have kept Austin?

 

Im all for finding something that works and even for allowing for the trials and fails of that finding. I think after a while Tomlin became enamored of subpackage football not because it was proving to be very successful but because it was believed that it made it tougher for teams to play against them. The problem with the 2-4-5 they were running was it assumed that the 4 and the 5 were not only good but were communicating effectively. The unfortunate reality was the inside backers were guessing on run plays and dropping guys in zone to watch the backfield. The safeties would get caught looking and let their guy go or they would be aggressive and end up out of position. Watt and Highsmith/Herbig can get off the ball on the blitz but often times in the run they get out leveraged or jammed up because of thier size. When they can get behind their man before they get blocked they set the edge well or pursue from the backside.

In the end I hope this new/old D looks at what they have and works with that rather than experimenting with packages they dont have the horses to run.

 

17th in defense

Don’t cherry pick the stats to fit your narrative please be honest

https://www.footballdb.com/statistics/nfl/team-stats/defense-totals?sort=ptsgm