Changes on defense before Philly game

I'll agree with the 4-3 point. I was never in love with the Ziggy pick, I always thought he was a 4-3 DT.

Heyward is good they just don't give him the snaps to prove it. I'm telling you...let him start 4 games in a row and let me know what you think then....

Timmons and Keisel are running in quicksand.... they are "near" the play, but never close enough to be in on the play and disrupt things.

 

I think that the Steelers are stuck to the 3-4 this year, but some personnel and maybe the nickel should be changed.

I think that the personnel is here to build a 4-3 next year and maybe this year, but this year will be very difficult with playcalling and a new scheme.

In a 4-3:
I think Woodley could be a good d-end. He could put on some weight and focus on pass rushing and contain which is what he does best. Hayward, McClendon, and maybe Hood could play d-tackle. Timmons, Carter, and Foote could play olb. Harrison and Foote could play mlb. Spence and Sylvester MAY fit in somewhere. The other d-end is questionable: maybe Hayward if needed this year; he seems more athletic than Hood, possibly Worilds (if so probably more next year). In a 4-3 Kiesel and Hampton are left out; Hampton should be a back up for sure now anyway. When and if healthy, Harrison can play any position in the front 7; health is his big question mark.

Foote and Clark have been very good this year; you are blind or bias to think or say otherwise. Ike and Woodley have also been good. The rest have been ok to bad.

If a 4-3 is used next year, Hampton, Kiesel, and maybe Harrison and Worilds are left out. I think that just a few adjustments could make it happen.


Adjustments to the current 3-4 scheme are probably the best bet to finish this year unless playoffs are impossible.

Real, actual adjustments need to be made though, both personnel, formations, and playcalling.

I also do not like the "big nickel" personnel; Woodley should be in, and Kiesel is too slow.

 

my 4 3 this year is
woodley mclendon heiward/hood kiesel/worilds


timmons foote/ivy harrison

essentially you bring up woodley to de and worilds bu kiesel

 

It doesn't matter with our defense. Raiders had an entire revamped secondary and no-name receivers and we still sucked.

I would benched lewis and keisel. But I really don't think it would matter. We need a new scheme and that won't happen until lebeau is gone.

 

I would bench Kiesel he hasn't done anything replace him with Heyward also Hampton put McClendon in at least he can make plays in the backfield.

 

From your mouth to gods ears. A blitz with a 10 yd cushion is idiotic. Their blitzes make no sense I recall yesterday and many times in the past where they blitzed R.Clark ,where of course he was picked up with ease and dropped Woodley into coverage on a 3rd and 8.

 

Come on with that "play Cortez Allen at the number 2" BS. I know that's some of yall's man crush, but truthfully he hasn't been any better. If you pay attention to the game, he is repeatedly getting killed by the slot receiver, which is the 3rd receiver. And as far as saying Lewis grabs, did you see how Allen grabbed Marcel Reese's jersey on that pass play??? He's done that numerous times, but just happens to get away with it. If these were real refs, those would be getting called. At least Lewis can grab and stay with his man, Allen grabs and the receiver still gets away, so miss me with that.

Also all the "I would bench this or that player" talk is crazy! Bench Kiesel, who's been a staple of the D for years??? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? Bench Lewis after 3 games as a first time starter??? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I'm starting to believe that many people who post on these forums don't know much about the game at all. Ike gave up more catches than Lewis, who gave up only 2 catches, yesterday. And he gave up 1 TD and could've given up another, but no mentions of benching him?

 

I think all here knows that the "wish list" of benching is not going to happen. Can you actually remember when a steelers player was benched? Probably kemo but look how long that took. The entire defense has been awful. And sometimes u have to shake up your line up to get your point across but know one has played that great.

 

After skimming thru the replies(which had a lot of good insight from various posters)...
The only thing I would really change, is letting McClendon have more snaps, (based on what I seen in pre-season), and crowding the recievers more, to try and eliminate the quick passes that kill us...
That would go hand in hand with either blitzing more often from the outside,(assuming we will have Silverback, and Troy back), or trying to get more pressure from the interior D-linemen...
Maybe letting Heyward play more. I don`t know how often he was in last week, but he seems to be better than Hood, to this casual fan. (Was really hoping Hood would have a breakout year this year, but haven`t seen it so far... Worth noting, that the Raiders decided he was a player worth targeting with a chop block, late in the game, tho..)
I did read an article tonight, that said McClendon was only in on three plays. I find that hard to believe, with Casey getting up there in years, and coming off an injury, but that is what it said...
Other than that, I dunno... I guess LeBeau is trying to change things up a bit with that "big nickle", but I wonder about taking the Lb`s out of there, even after I read Tomlin`s presser, where he explained it...
Also, NO WAY IN HELL, Am I taking Keisel outta there, other than to let him catch his breath once in a while.
I couldn`t believe the veteran jumped offsides, on fourth down, but I did read an article in the tribune, that explained how Palmer used a hard count, at the same time as a T.E., and a back, went in motion, so I will cut him a break on that...
He is probably the most reliable D-lineman we have right now, and was having a helluva year, last season. Not sure if the groin injury is lingering...
http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/265 ... z27R3XYjZp
I don`t have all the "x`s and o`s" type answers, but basically, just...
Kill, Kill, Kill! More pressure... Less, "Keep the play in front of you" type Defense.
We Made our name, by being aggressive, no need to sit back, and play cautious, now... IMO...
Live by the blitz, die by the blitz... At least we would be trying, instead of trying not to lose...
P.S. ... Edit, forgot we were playing Vick, next week, when I typed all this...
Blitzing a running qb, might not be the best idea, here, esp. considering he is struggling without much pressure on him, but, in general, against most teams, that is what I would change.

 

Here's some stats for you guys who are blasting Keenan Lewis to consider:

I took the liberty of re-watching the game and breaking down the total coverage stats for the entire secondary. If you disagree with this, feel free to go back and watch the game for yourself to compare my stats against your own. These stats did not include the linebackers’ targets and completion.

There were a couple of questionable ones on R. Mundy, namely the Heyward-Bey hit as it looked as though they were in Cover 3 so I may be off one here as I wasn’t sure who to credit the target to him or Keenan Lewis. Also on the Raiders second touchdown, Mundy was caught in between 2 TE’s so I again I wasn’t sure which was his responsibility. Those 2 I will credit to unknown.

R. Clark 1 Target, 1 Completion 7yds, 1INT – 100% Completion Rate
I. Taylor 7 Targets, 5 Completions 31yds 1TD – 71% Completion Rate
K. Lewis 5 Targets, 2 Completions 29yds – 40% Completion Rate
C. Allen 4 Targets, 3 Completions 32yds – 75% Completion Rate
R. Mundy 4 Targets, 4 Completions 20yds, 2TD’s – 100% Completion Rate

2 are unknown.

In total, the secondary gave up 16 completions on 22 targets for 119 yds, give or take a catch or two.

As you can see Keenan Lewis was the only CB who had lower than half of the passes completed against him. He also had 4 tackles, one of which saved a TD. So when fans on this board start with the ‘Bench Keenan and start Cortez’ or ‘Keenan Lewis is playing poorly talk" those arguments don’t hold up to the numbers and it proves that their assessments aren’t based on concrete evidence, but more of a dislike. My theory is that fans are confusing no. 23 with no. 28, which looking at the game, with the positions they are in, it’s hard to tell who is who. Lewis gave up a critical PI call in the second to last drive. Also, I do agree that he had room to take McFadden’s legs out on that run, but out side of that, he played pretty solid according to the numbers.

 

Agree 100%.

While our defense has lost us arguably both of our games this year, teams are just chewing up the Eagle's offense and accumulating massive amounts of turnovers and sacks. I say we stay the course for one more week to see if:

1) We also dominate the Eagles. If so, stick with our defense.
2) We continue to play like we have been on defense (no pressure, no TO's, and timidness) and can't stop the Eagles. If this is the case we'll need to make changes in order to remain competitive for the rest of the season.

Three teams have now killed the Eagles offense, and if we can't do the same changes need to come. This next game will be a good barometer for our true identity on defense.

 

First i would do what we did against the jets and play Press. Ike and Lewis are better suited to that. troy can free lance all he wants cause Clark is back. mabye blitz a corner here and there wish gay was still here for that.

let are DL dudes play and not worry about chop blocks.

“I got to the quarterback on one play, but the coaches told me that we are a gap team and we don’t need a Superman,” Ta’amu said

That’s definitely a change from the norm for Ta’amu. He’s accustomed to using his quickness and power — more than his size — to his advantage.

Haley still recalls a series of plays from Ta’amu during his senior year in high school that were stunning.

“The first one he made a stop on the opposite side of the field for no gain,” Haley said. “The next play, he sacked the quarterback about 10 yards back, and the third play he ran down their running back 35 yards down the field.”


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/ste...d#ixzz27VNFMEGN

 

Kiesel is not injured but it has become universally known by now that Hood can be handled one on one so they choose to double team Kiesel and Hampton which is why you are seeing less of an impact by them. Couple that with Harrison being out and that side of the line is not a productive as it once was.

 

Great stats, cheers steelman. I suspected the same thing but you've confirmed it there.

I think the weak point in the secondary is Mundy, all day long. Would it hurt to try Golden in there?

 

Please Baby Jesus let Troy Mendy and Harrison return healthy!!!!