3rd down + Steelers Defense = Guaranteed 1st Down..

This fact is REALLY driving me mad! We will have two good stops in a row and then bam 14 yd pass to a TOTALLY wide open guy and it happens seemingly EVERY 1st down not in the red zone.

I mean what the hell is going on here? NO ONE on defense makes any kinda of impact play and our "all-star" safety it seems is allowing people to get wide open, along with 'the other guys in the secondary. It is just sooo rediculous and I do not see us going anywhere with this team as long as we can't get opposing offenses OFF THE FIELD!

 

I agree it totally pisses me off on a regular basis. Staunch defenders of our defense will say "Yea but you take away those 13 points off turnovers and the D only gave up a TD all night" While that might be true letting the 49ers run roughshod between the 20's kept us in horrendous field position all night long. They helped Alex Smith look like Joe Montana on numerous plays last night and Alex Smith hasn't lit anyone up all year long.

 

I think one of the problems is continuing to play at least ten yards off of receivers when they need maybe five yards for a first down. Not only that, but they start to back pedal at the snap. This is what disgusts me. I thought we had it figured out after beating NE, but now it's back to the same old "This is what we do" and what seems to be no game plan or willingness to adapt.
Also, please quit trying the same old blitz up the middle with two linebackers in the same hole that never materializes. They give it away long before the snap, so the offense knows it's coming, then it gets stuffed.

 

Agree with everything you said. Going in to that game they should have known the 49ers were going to use a short yardage passing attack which is exactly what they did so why the hell have the corners playing so far off ? They also knew that throughout the year the 49ers OL was having problems protecting Smith and yet we can barely sniff a sack against him. It's mind boggling to say the least

 

I think I'd rather see a 3rd and 4 instead of 3rd and 12, I've been screaming about that for all season. We blame the offense for not keeping the D off the field long enough, well I guess that is true considering it takes an average of 11 plays and 60 yards to get a stop. 3ed and 12 with no pass rush = 1st down 99% of the time.

 

Yeah thats what really annoys me is their whole attitude about it. This is what we do, this is Steeler football. Its like they are SO stubborn to EVER make adjustments... YOU CANNOT DO THAT IN THE NFL. And these teams have totally figured us out. You can tell these offenses play totally different when facing the Steelers. They KNOW they can dink and dunk it all night long and we will NOT change anything to try and prevent it... ugggh its sooo frustrating!

 

The blitzes were getting penetration, at some key points. But, like others have said... the short passing game was in effect.

Man coverage would have stopped that, and probably resulted in a pick or two for the Steelers D.

 

I agree that this has been the most disappointing consistent failure all season. Watching teams convert third downs on us is excruciating - especially when the game is on the line. A 3rd down stop can be such a momentum-shifter and 3rd down success does the same for an opponent. Unfortunately, this has been an issue far too often this season - even when the Steelers win.

 

Well it's pretty easy to convert when our cornerbacks are 20 yards downfield. I don't know why LeBeau tells them to line up so far down the field. It opens up quick plays (which is all the 49ers pretty much did last night).

 

Especially after we played the pats and showed we can be successful playing a tight coverage game.

 

Man coverage was lacking, wasn't good at all. 3 out 5 passes the were quick throws for short yardage. Vernon Davis was just killing us.

 

Which begs the question of how the hell we stopped the TE tandem of Gronkowski and Hernandez with Marcia tossing to them???

 

Seems to me that playing soft zone in the secondary with 4 or five man rush and LBs reacting to the run works well on 1st and 2nd down. It feels like the Steelers are very good at forcing a lot of 3rd downs. However, when the opposing offense needs 8 to 12 yards for a first, the defense plays right into their playbook. On 3rd and long there are only so many plays that can be called and a high percentage of them will be short passes. (5-10 Yds). The steelers seem to stay in that same defense which is able to almost eliminate the long passes downfield and contain most running plays, but neither of those are big factors in a 3rd and long playbooks. Should Dick Lebeau continue to call 1st and 2nd down the way he always has and find a different solution for 3rd down. In the past it seemed like 3rd down was his favorite time to dial up the pressure, only now the blitzes aren't getting to the QB and the short passes are open.

 

I agree 100% with everything posted in this thread. Except for the 2008 season, in which the corners played more press coverage, this has been a problem every season.

 

I just cant understand how you can go out and sop Marcia, by playing one way, and then turn right back around to the same ole sh*t that isnt working?? Why only use it for high powerd passing teams, but not others? If it stops the marcias of the league, itll da@n sure stop everybody else? Maybe there is a reason behind the madness, but i have yet to see it or fugure it out! :banghead:

 

Exactly! I was thinkg that the Niners were playing similar to the Pats with their little dink and dunk passes and kept hoping we would adjust and switch to man coverage but no..... :banghead:

 

If I didn't know better I'd swear we're playing a form of "prevent defense" from the game's opening snap. Corners are off 10 to 15 yards looking for a deep pass and Troy seems to be playing so far off the line almost as if he was expecting a Hail Mary. I know we don't like to give up the big play but just a couple 20 yard plays equals a big play and those are much easier to convert. I just don't get that defensive philosophy. Can any of you apologists out there who are always defending our coaches and game plan, even when it's all screwed up, offer any explanation for this kind of strategy?

 

man are you a steeler fan or a troll?

total pts allowed 2nd
total yards allowed 1st
rushing yards allowed per game 6th
PASSING YARDS per game 1st

PRETTY DAM GOOD UNLESS YOU ARENT A REAL FAN?

 

Because they were coming off a bye-week and there timing was off. This happens with these pass oriented teams. When they are off more than a week their timing is off. Practice can not replicate in-game action. The reason we got the Colts before we went to the Super Bowl that year. Also why we are seeing more teams with the lower seed make it all the way to the superbowl. Keeps the rhythm going.

 

Everything will be fine. We're fine. There are no problems. We'll be fine. Let's here it for our OC! Let's give a cheer for our prevent defense!

 

But remember: New England hadn't lost a game coming out of the bye in ten years. Food for thought.

 

"But remember: New England hadn't lost a game coming out of the bye in ten years. Food for thought"
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Didn't NE lose to the JETS last year in the playoffs after they had a week off? Same thing with BAL the year before?