Butler deserves more time

This. Why would Tomlin make any Def Coaching changes? Maybe MT wants a DC in name/title only so he makes the calls.

Bring in a DC with good resume and strong personality, maybe MT feels he has to relinquish his def control.

 

Butler gets rewarded for another playoff meltdown and his staff stays intact. This defense is now hitched to the back of Mike Tomlin. Another meltdown and it would be hard for Art II not to go through the roof like most of us are. Mike Munchak is hangng out and could fit right in to that head coaching spot.

 

I completely agree with you. The RZ d was horrific.

 

I kinda feel the same way, I have been going back and forth on this whole Tomlin thing but the more I read the more I think it is time to go. I am tired of the people who keep saying well that's fine who do you replace him with.......MUNCH!!!!!! It is not like this is a rebuild team all we need is structure and I think Munch would bring that. People want the coaches of the defensive side of the ball to be gone but it won't matter who you bring in if MT keeps putting his hands in things then you will have the same result. idk, jmo

 

Not comforting numbers. I'm glad I don't need to worry about the Steelers for much longer. I don't see much good happening for the next couple of years.

 

I disagree on Butler. I think he needs to go. This defense was never ready in the big moments. Who knows what we could do with a different scheme and voice?

We had a relatively easy schedule. So some of those stats are a bit misleading. We NEVER get turnovers. To me that’s one of the biggest defensive statistics. That usually turns into points.

I know we lead the league in sacks, but it dang sure didn’t feel like it. We didn’t get sacks or even pressure when really needed.

Also ton of blown coverages in big moments, which you did elude to with giving up big plays.

 

About 1/5 of those sacks were against the Browns so it't a skewed stat.

 

You believe incorrectly. The Jaguars were fifth in scoring. That scoring included defensive touchdowns.

I assume you've heard the saying, "There are lies, damn lies and statistics." That doesn't mean statistics are always wrong. It means statistics can be manipulated many different ways to show many different things.

The Steelers statistics are skewed. The defense they had the first half of the season is not the one they finished with. Part of that was injuries. Part of it was declining execution. Part was probably teams figuring out what they were doing. Sports are about adjusting, which doesn't seem to be one of Butler's strong suits. Once teams figured out how to attack the Steelers, Butler never seemed to have a counter-move.

Over the final seven games of the season, including the playoff loss to the Jaguars, the Steelers gave up an average of 30.9 points per game. Even that number is skewed by the game against the Texans, who employed a couple of quarterbacks off the street. Without that, they gave up 35.2 points per game. That's awful. If I remember correctly, the fumble return this past Sunday was the only return touchdown in that span, so that was almost all on the defense.

 

They missed Shazier so much because his speed made up for many deficiencies. He wasn't just good but he covered for others being out of position and, generally, not having much impact. We not only downgraded his spot significantly but there was no one left to make big plays. Our philosophy was basically for the super fast, fragile guy to bail everyone out.

 

Things come a little more in to focus if Big MT was calling even parts of the D. Easy with Shazier in there and running the on field calls, for Mike to later say I was calling the plays. His lack of discipline and overall indicision could easily explain some stupid games that we had this year. I just wonder if he started these defensive duties last year by playing zone the entire damn game last year against NE?

 

I'm not wiping away the good. I'm pointing out that a defense that seemed okay early in the season fell apart, and the defensive coordinator has to take some blame for that. The Patriots were a mess early on defense and got better. That's why they are still playing and very likely to win another Super Bowl. The Steelers started off decent and got worse as the season wore on.

Butler has shown no ability to figure anything out. When the defense faltered this season, he couldn't adapt. It just kept getting worse. His defense looked absolutely helpless in its last two playoff games. I could almost excuse it last season against the Patriots except he failed to make any adjustments at all in that game. The Steelers just kept trotting those same zone defenses out there and Brady tore them apart. The only difference this time is it was a much weaker offense shredding the Pittsburgh's defense with the season on the line.

 

He adjusted well in some games but not in the playoffs

 

I thought a lot of sacks came from creative blitz's and you could argue a sack is a sack but teams that can pressure the QB with 4 DL seem to be much more consistent at pressing the QB.

Of course its very difficult to get 4 DL that can produce pressure you really need 5 or 6 as the other team will go hurry up and gas them. I think there should be some time for defenses to rotate guys in n out.

Just very frustrated that Burns and Davis regressed in their second year and Lake is retained. I remember Lake as a great player but that shouldn't be a free ride forever.

 

Yes

 

Well, with the report of Tomlin working the defense and calling plays, maybe we need another DC if he needs help from the HC.
But maybe it's just some mentorship and he will leave it up to him next year. But if this continues, we might want to look at that DC position.

 

If your boss is involved in your work in calling plays and taking over meetings, either he feels you need help or he doesn't trust you to do your job. IMO.

 

keith bultlers defense was not good .the players out of position. in the jag game they used a 300 lb.lineman to spy the quarter back on third down bortles ran 16 yards on 3rd down.the rush instead of containing him they left the side wide open a back would come out the backfield two steelers would watch him instead of following they let him swing out and get wide open only after the pass went to him would they go after him. alot of times the player are caught flat footed .watch a bill belichick team his players are in the right spot most of the time .his players are coached on how to defend the play properly. the steelers players are not the problem the coaching is. keith butler should watch bill belichick defense over and over till he learns