Terrifying Statistic(s)

I didn't know just how bad it was until I researched the numbers. Ready for this?

The Steelers' 15 takeaways in 2011 was by far the defense's lowest total ever for a 16-game season. How low? Consider that until 2011, the lowest total was 22, in 2009.

Hmm...two of the Steelers' lowest turnover totals have been in the past three years??? Furthermore, in just nine seasons, since 1978, have the Steelers failed to takeaway the ball at least 30 times. Four of those seasons have occurred since 2007, the year Tomlin came in as coach.

Breaking it down, average annual takeaways:

Under Noll (1978-1991): 39.75. High: 48 (1978); Low: 30 (1991)
Under Cowher (1992-2006): 32.8. High: 43 (1992); Low: 25 (2003)
Under Tomlin (2007-2011): 25.2. High: 35 (2010); Low: 15 (2011)

Something seems to have happened to the ferocious Steeler D, particularly under Tomlin.

Or maybe something else is going on. Taking a look at the numbers, turnovers have steadily declined since 1978.

Avg. Team Turnovers, 1978: 40.57
Avg. Team Turnovers, 1988: 34.46
Avg. Team Turnovers, 1998: 28.7
Avg. Team Turnovers, 2008: 24.78

What the...?????

Pretty clear indication that offenses have developed to a point that defenses are having an incredibly difficult time stopping them.

 

the rule changes....

 

Yes it is very clear and our style of Football has a lot to do with it......We have multiple players on D speaking all the time about us running the ball and scoring the ball.....The BA BS keeps Teams in the game and it keeps Teams fresh.....We use to Impose our will and just beat the other Team up on both sides of the ball.....This made opposing Teams O take more chances early because either the score was against them or they feared they would run out of gas and we would take over the game...

Under BA we do not score the ball,,,,,we do not Impose our will,,,,and 1 play never builds into the next.......People under estimate what these things do for a Team as a whole........

The reason I always throw the 1 play building into the next is DC'S know that if plays build upon one another sooner or later they will break a crucial play on you that could change the outcome of the game....BA is so predictable that DC'S simply just call there best stuff knowing they don't have to worry about a well designed wrinkle later in the game....We start and finish the game the same way looking to go deep off Ben extended play......

This helps the O from other Teams as well as they know we can't score the ball and we don't have a better plan for later ....So as long as the game stays close and their O is building 1 play into the next then they have the best chance to win....The Ravens are starting to master that against us......

Our new style is the big play and that's really nothing to fear if it's not being set up........

 

Yep, this is most of the reason. With the rule changes and such, a defense simply cannot dominate as in the past. You can no longer hit and cause the turnovers by playing a physical style. Turnovers are now dependant upon opposing offenses having to press - this is caused by scoring on the offensive side and pressuring other offenses to keep up. This cuases many more risks which result in splash plays on defense. This is how it is now done in the NFL - the old Steeler way has been marginalized by the rules. The way to get teams to turn over the ball is to get ahead of them by more than one score.

If our first 2 drives result in TDs vice FGs, Denver's entire offensive scheme would have been forced to change and they would have had to press, the D would then know this and be able to play for that. This is why teams like the Saints and pack get turn-overs, even with a really crappy defense. They make the other teams press to keep with them.

The best friend of a defense (when it comes to getting turn-overs) is an offense that is a threat to score every time they get the ball.

 

Well I guess that leaves us out!

 

Up to this point, you're absolutely correct. The Steelers offense needs an upgrade in just about every aspect. The offense has talent, but not discipline and focus. And that is present from the OC on down... and Tomlin is responsible for this. My friends and I have said this for the last few years... the offense is killing the defense.

 

SPOT ON!! Terrific Post!! 100% Agree with you.

 

This one gets me. Our defense allowed 2 pass plays longer than 40 yards through 16 games. In one playoff game they allowed 4. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

The combo of BA ball and the rule changes.

 

but some will be quick to defend our defense because it was ranked #1.

 

LeBeau went with a scheme that dared Tebow to beat them deep. The Steelers had 8-9 guys in the box. I have no problem with that plan...until it beats you. At that point, you have to adjust. LeBeau didn't adjust. Had the Steelers played their basic defense, most of those plays wouldn't have happened. It's a real head-scratcher to me why LeBeau didn't switch things up.

 

If Lebeau played a base zone defense Tebow would have not been able to decipher the Zone and Troy would have picked up at least 2 INT's.

I think they should have let Denver have the run game. Steelers base D might have gotten gashed, but the would not have been able to score quickly when it really counted.

 

I thought this is what DL was going to do. I figured the front 7 would have adjusted to the option and any potential wild-cat by run-blitzing. Oh well...

 

Why wouldn't we defend them because of this? When was the last time our offense was ranked #1 in anything? 2005 when we were #1 in rushing? Our defense has been at a minimum top-5 in the league for the last 5 years. How can we be better than #1? Number 0.5? Number -1? Doesn't being #1 mean that you're the best? I WISH our offense could be the #1 scoring offense in the league.

If our scoring defense was ranked #21 in the league, and was hovering right around that mark going on 5 years in a row, then yes, I and a lot of others would be bashing the defense as much as we're bashing BA and his offense.

NOT defending the defense because it was ranked #1 would be like winning the Super Bowl and complaining that we should've won more games.

 

Holy cow.

I saw who the OP of this thread was and as I read his post I kept saying to myself, "somehow he's going to work this into being Bruce Arians fault." And lo and behold there it is at the very end. Shocker.

 

Exactly his point. He's implying that because the Steelers offense isn't as hard stop and doesn't put up points that it should, that other teams are not falling behind and pressing on offense allowing the Steelers D to get TOs.

Just look at the direction the that the thread has taken. Its a giant pile on BA party.

 

Im familiar with 12to88 and the way he posts. He was absolutely leading the thread in that direction.

 

Oh yea, without a doubt It's a two way street and why football's a TEAM sport. That lack of takeaways by the defense also hurts the offenses scoring chances as a result of taking away more would be possessions and not getting better field position to start drives. While the rules may have changed there were still 23 other teams in the NFL that had more interceptions than we did, many more for that matter.

 

I don't know how people reach illogical conclusions. A more logical conclusions looks something like this: Any time a team's top 2 pass rushers have injuries and miss significant time, it's going to have an impact on an entire defense. Pressure on QB's probably force more turnovers then any other factor.

Blaming BA again? I know, I know, BA is also to blame for global warming and everything that's wrong with the world. Anyone with half a brain shouldn't be blaming an offensive coach for a defenses inability to create turnovers.

 

that last analogy was a total misfire.

to be proud of our defense this season shows a fundamental ignorance of the pittsburgh steelers.

it shows a complete disregard of the offenses we've played against and a general lack of understanding of our defense. we haven't gotten to the qb (let alone pressure him) the entire season and we haven't forced takeaways - AT ALL (as validated by this thread)! THESE two areas are the staple of our defense. if we aren't getting to the qb and forcing turnovers, our team will suffer and will (and did) lead to our inevitable demise. jerking off over statistics because we gave up less yards than other defenses is asinine. it's just plain silly.

our defense, despite its #1 ranking, was below average for a pittsburgh steeler's defense. we can run into the streets hugging everybody all we want because we shut out the rams and seahawks to help pad our scoring stats, shoot off fireworks for beating up on a handful of rookies (palko, gabbert, and dalton twice), sweeping second-year kid colt mccoy, and beating studs like kevin kolb and matt hasselbeck, but i've gotta believe there weren't many real diehard fans of this team that had a lot of confidence in our defense this season.

 

It is certainly not the only reason but with the new rules the Steelers D has lost the intimidation factor that was such a huge part of what they do.