4-6-1 Works

I agree. The Steelers seem to have been susceptible to the "dink and dunk" for a while, now. Timmons, JJ and Shazier need to get busy. DL members need to occupy their assignments so the LBs can work.

There have only been two games so let's see what they do against Carolina.

 

This was in 2007. The game has changed immensely since then. I'll say it again: what is the common thread between DEN/SEA, BAL/SF? Never having enough elite CB talent.

Maybe we'll be stuck looking up at Cincy for a few years to get it..

 

Sad to say, but may be true... Had we gotten fuller, he probably wouldn't even be getting a hat, and if he did I'll bet he'd still be lining up 10 yds off the ball and playing damage control. Front 7 is your first line of defense and most important IMO.

 

As far as where are we going in next years draft? Whatever OLB with a good board will be pick #1. Worilds will be gone and the panic will surface over that spot once more. I'd almost guarantee it.

 

The Panthers have a great front 7 with a bunch of journeymen in the secondary. AND they have one of the best DEF in the league. Luke Keuchly is a beast. And so is Thomas Davis, Kwan Short, and Star Lotulelei. And so was The Kraken until he beat up his girlfriend.

Anyway, I'm glad to have Shazier and glad as hell they are actually giving a rookie quality playing time. Would love to see more of Tuitt, as well.

BUT this team desperately needs a decent corner. When we will ever have another Rod Woodson?? Sigh...

 

I am not asking for shutdown corners, I am asking for some press coverage for a couple of seconds that allows the front 7 to get some pass rush or at least make the qb move. Even a line w/Reggie White and Charles Haley can't get to the qb if the ball is out in 2 seconds.

 

This is essentially why I was asking my question about responsibilities of the LB core vs the safeties. I guess when they play nickle or dime they are trying to create some ambiguity on who is comming in after the QB vs covering the short passing lanes. Perhaps in this new world it's important that the LB core be faster to be able to pick up on short routes.

So here's a different question... in a 4-3 would the d-line typically be expected to just occupy the o-line or would they be expected to get into the backfield too? In such a D, do you see the d-line touching/hurrying the QB more or is that still more often than not an LB or blitzing safety's job?

 

CBs are 100% when the QB is getting up from a sack.

 

Makes sense. I agree. Just some posters keep talking about CBs and how we should have drafted this one and that one. Granted we need corners right now but if you have the DL and speed such as we have with our ILBs they should be able to provide enough pressure and rush to disrupt any QB. Of course this is not happening right now but Dick will get us back on track

 

I prefer the Safety position to cover the deeper part of the middle. It can be done either way ,but for the most part LB'S are more effective at the LOS .

 

First, I saw our CB up in press coverage much more last game - when they are up there nobody seems to notice.

Second the teams that tended to have the best defenses in the league typically had a very strong front seven that could dominate the LOS. That is what Baltimore has, that is what Seattle has, that is what SF has, that is what Carolina has.

A Rod Woodson is a once in a generation type player - there is not one in every draft.

A very good front seven is basically what Cowher had all those years when we had excellent defenses - we typically had some weak corners. We drafted some high round CBs - Chad Scott, McFadden, Colclough, Even 3rd rounders like Lewis and Poteat. None of these guys were the saviors of the secondary.

 

Thank you Rob for pointing out the Ravens and the Hawks . The 1 common thread that they have is Talent at the CB position. In todays NFL you do need talent at CB ,gone are the days of playing with scrubs at CB and the Steelers need to wake up and wake up ASAP.

 

I think you missed his whole point about the front 7...

 

In a 4-3, I would expect at least one of my D-Lineman to be able to consistently penetrate the opposing O-Line and disrupt the backfield. After that it's a toss up... either that D-Lineman is going for the QB, if the opposing offense has no answer for him, or you can switch and send different blitzes (LB, CB, S) to exploit the extra offensive man being assigned to contain the D-Lineman that is consistently penetrating.

But that's why DL's 3-4 was always great. The Steelers always had LBs that were like fast D-Linemen. Strong, big and quick. The thing is this: no matter what you have 11 men on the field. And somebody has to do what I mentioned above. Before it was an OLB (Porter, then Harrison) creating havoc on an edge. When the offense started to focus there then it left options for other LBs (Bell, Woodley, Farrior, etc) or D-Linemen (Hampton, A.Smith, The Beard) to exploit the opening left by the offense. DL could even then switch to sending a CB or S to keep the offense guessing as to where the blitz was coming from. That was back when the team was proudly referred to as Blitzburgh.

And now that you've taken me down this path... I'm thinking the Steelers would do well to mix in more man coverage... they don't have to run man in the secondary all the time, but definitely during blitzes to take the short option away from the opposing QB. I'm down for taking this risk. I've been on the side of those arguing for more man coverage for the past several seasons. When NE came to Heinz last time DL dialed up more man coverage in the secondary and it threw Brady off and the Steelers killed them...

 

I'm willing to admit that usually I don't notice. I'll try to pay closer attention.

What do you notice in CB play when they are tight on the WR. Are they getting beat, or hanging tough? Is it perhaps a disconnect on when the tight coverage is called for?

 

That's when we get beat by the run or the tight end seem pass up the middle. Once shazier settles in I think it will be a little harder to heyday us on those routes to the tight ends

 

There is an interesting "rewind" article on steelersdepot that commented on some of the "mistakes" shazier made (e.g. Hitting for the same hole as Timmons or getting fooled by an FB redirection... Not sure if these are fair criticisms but it was an interesting read for me anyway.

 

He's a rook it's to be expected. I believe when he settles in, that our middle will be shored up on those plays that we've been I'll equipped to deal with for years if not decades, but those were also times that we had a run D that would put teams in 3rd and long time and time again only to whoopsie over the middle. Shazier can run with today's tight ends, he just needs to know and not think.

 

When they were in the 4-6-1 Garvin got lost in coverage and gave up a TD.

 

Garvin shouldn't have been on the field that play IMO

 

Not that it matters at all, they earned it regardless of our package. They kicked our asses, back to the drawing board.