Steelers defense

I don't understand why they haven't played this aggressive the whole season, I know it was against the Browns but still 5 sacks and 4 turnovers is impressive.

 

Very impressive. I hope they keep it up!

 

They played good dont get me wrong
but the browns really suck

 

Playing from behind limits what they do defensively.

 

will allen was a good addiction , then i keep thinking they were not in shape at the beginning of the season , seems our preseason ended vs buffalo

 

Maybe giving up 610 yards, and 55 points to Marcia, and Co., finally pissed them off?

 

It's about time. The William Gay corner blitz brought some things up from the past. Where was this in the first few weeks? We are overly cautious but need to continue to be aggressive because the likes of Brady and Manning isn't going to let up on the gas regardless if they have a lead or not.

 

Well that's just it, and that's why we shouldn't get too carried away thinking we're back to being the old Steelers. It was just the Browns. Just 6 quarters ago we were setting records for how terrible we were. There's cause for optimism for sure, but I also don't know how we're going to fare against a good offence. Baltimore and Cleveland aren't very good offensively.

 

My only concern with corner blitzes is that the best QB's in the league will eat those blitzes alive. It takes too long for the CB to get there and Brady, Manning, Rodgers, Brees, etc. will have the ball long gone by then. We need to get pressure from the Dline if we want to get to the top guys in the league.

 

EXACTLY! The good QB's will drop 40+ on this D even as it stands right now all day. It just is not built to beat Brady (not that many are). Never has been.

 

This defense---now vs the start of the season.......

LeBeau and the coaching staff.... I Love LeBeau but I want a change at DC, I want Butler. Only because he's earned it and will steer this defense with freah eyes and ideas.

1) We are all thrilled to see Heyward doing so well. You can't tell me the staff had no clue he was better than Ziggy after all this time so why was ziggy still the starter over him.

2) We are all thrilled to see how well Worilds is playing, in fact he has always produced in his limited snaps ( behind Woodley/james ) so why did they choose to start JJ, a rookie, over him.

3) The Handling of the Foote injury- This was bad because he was our signal caller/leader. The coaches decided to let a rookie, vince Williams take his place. I like Williams and think he'll be a good ILBer but why would a DC with a complicated defense. who rarely allows rookies to even play turn over the reigns to the defense to a rookie? We also kept another rookie LB, Garvin, on the 53 and let go McFadden and Rolle. That's 3 rookie LBers. Are they trying to get younger in just one year?

4) Troy- our HOF SS is playing ILB. Having Troy being a rover/ILBer at times is beneficial but it jeopardizes our back-end, too much and OCs will attack a slowing Clark and rookie safety ( Shark ) giving up big plays.

Better decisions by the coaches would have had this defense playing better earlier in the year. It hasn't help Allen has failed to be who we hoped he be.

Good thing the coaches are making adjustments but was it enough, soon enough.

Cajun-

 

1. I thought he produced well in limited snaps last year. Heyward has upped his game tho, and has turned out to be our best D-Lineman by far.

2. I think they had high hopes for JJ, and maybe he out performed Worilds in camp? Who knows? Maybe they were trying to hide Worilds behind JJ and Woodley in hopes that we could re-sign him for less, then make Woodley back-up after this season?

 

That's my problem with LeBeau he doesn't seem to bring enough pressure consistently. Gay is a good blitzer and against the Browns was the first time this season I seen him blitz the QB.

 

yes has changed how pressure is applied and because the personnel is different he is able to apply more pressure then previously.

Everyone of our DBs has elevated their game.. Well almost hehe

Bman

 

will allens return coupled with troy getting comfy in the roving gnome, I mean, roving ILB role.

don't tell me dick le beau has lost it. we basically our playing a 4-3 right now. DLB finally has the right people healthy and in place and we are getting better at it. this isn't what these division rivals expect from us. this ain't the standard oakie defense.

will allen has solitified the backend.

troy is getting comfy roving close to the line. it's allowing Timmons to do some different things sideline to sideline.

heyward and ziggy inside are creating some difficulties, where heyward and keisel or ziggy and keisel, not so much in these sets. Woodley and keisel coming back could hurt more then help in this formation. worilds from one side and JJ from the other command some notice too. JW is a bit better against the pass and run then Woodley this year. I also think he helps JJ learn more LB then Woodley teaching him.

this all makes for allowing the extra db to do ............ well THINGS. like rush the uni-brow.

I believe having keisel and Woodley out has helped this defense look better in this style of defense we are playing now. nothing against them in our traditional style, but this one gets the better fit of players in place. the landshark missing doesn't help. he's the speed back there.

 

For all the talk about the CB's playing off, I wonder how much this has to do with what we are asking Troy to do? If Troy is playing as an ILB, then aren't they saying, go ahead and have a short completion, just don't get beat deep. Whereas when Troy is playing back, the CB's can lock up with the WR because there is help deep. With Ike, he'll take on the league's best, often without help. He'll give up the short passes, but not get beat often. This can be frustrating on 3rd down, but teams have to drive the field on us without many cheap long plays. Thoughts?

 

The Browns rank 28th in rushing and have mediocre Q.B.'s so teams can pin their ears back a bit and go after the Q.B. The Steelers will have to change that a bit against the Ravens. They have a better running game and two legit deep threats at WR.

 

The defense is playing better and hope the trend continues. To have success this needs to happen. Some reasons are two castoffs making significant contributions, a bloated underachiever who's injured and a contract there stuck with being replaced by a guy looking for a contract and turning up the heat, a future HOF playing like the past and a Defensive Lineman who is coming into his own. Oh and a rook playing ILB, playing steady. Jarvis Jones is playing steady as well.
Good adjustments by the coaching staff. LeBeau has finally opened the door for rooks to play.

Still concerned about Taylor as you all should know by now. He could give a game away.

Looking forward to the game tonight. Win and then I will start to believe. This is a pivotal game, a major slugfest as it always is!

GO Steelers...

 

As I have lays maintained, the defense can be much more aggressive once a nice lead is established. If we get down and are behind, it puts the defense in a bad situation, especially if the offense is not considered a threat to score often and quickly to make a comeback. Those who think lebeau is a problem are way off base.

 

What you have said sir is true.. even the Lebeau statement. Andy Reid wasn't the problem in philly but a change was needed. Fox wasn't the problem in Carolina but a change was needed. LeBeau isn't the problem with our defense, in fact this is one of his best coaching jobs considering what he's dealing with, aging vets/FA losses/key injurys and an influx of rookies.

I have loved the defenses LeBeau has built over the years, I believe he should enter the HOF as a coach as well BUT---

I really want this to be his last year. We are in transition, like it or not, and I want a DC who'll be here the next 10 years guiding that transition and I want Butler, our LB coach, given that opportunity to build a legacy of his own, here!!!

Cajun-

 

Yeah but Will Allen isn't a starter, where was the pressure going against scrub QB's like Cassel, Pryor, Locker. When you have a weak secondary you need to help them out by putting more pressure on the QB.