Defensive Woes

We seem to be running more 3 man fronts this year. There are pros and cons to this but with our defense, we are not built for it. Let me elaborate, the teams that have run wild on us have mostly been running inside on us and have backs that are roughly the size of our smaller quicker linebackers. These backs are getting through the 3 man fronts with a full head of steam and easily breaking tackle attempts by our smaller linebackers and db’s. We are not blitzing nearly as much as we have in the past. This lack of lineman and blitzes is causing our db’s to have to cover longer and in turn coverages are breaking down. A 4/3/4 or a 5/2/4(depending on the quality of the rb) with the middle plugged up so our fast linebackers can use there lateral quickness to crush outside runs and screens and we'll be forcing quicker throws. Am I crazy? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this or your theories on the defensive woes.

 

I don't see us running three man fronts. It's too much two DL fronts. Neither requires double teams and the offensive lineman can easily get to the second level and block our ILBs.

 

The issue is that the players are not winning their matchups; Stephon Tuitt especially save for an early stop.



On that note, Tuitt has been disappointing this year to say the least. Even when Cameron Heyward was in, Tuitt has not been able to do much of anything.

 

On the surface it appears that way.

 

It may be that way. However, given last year's performance, I was expecting more of the same with Tuitt.


He has not looked the same at all.

 

Hopefully he's just a victim of not having any balance on the opposite side. I do however think he's not hitting the next gear like we were seeing last year and he should be way more polished than he's showing year 2.

 

I am hoping more what I am seeing is just a slow start (albeit slower than I thought it would be) and he will explode in the second half of the season.

 

Maybe it is the scheme. The Steelers had 47 sacks last season. Through 7 games this season they are tied with KC for last with 8.

 

Agreed. Butler is getting to cute with the substitutions. If a guy is playing lights out, leave him in there until he needs a rest. They best figure this issue out during the bye if this team wants to make a run. Or stop the run for that matter...

 

The last 6 minutes of the game, New England ran what we're trying to run - 3/4 man rush, umbrella to prevent big plays, tackle the catch. Except their back 8 don't take bad angles or miss tackles.

 

They've called off the dogs this year, insisting that they must get home with four (that they don't have). This smacks of Tomlin's Tampa-2 influence coming through. Butler's a 3-4 zone blitz guy.

 

Injuries or not we are taking steps back. 3rd in sacks last year to this **** now. That's no bueno

 

We don't have a front four who can win matchups. We did not last year, so we schemed around it by blitzing. This year, we stopped scheming around it.

Coaching matters.

 

And coaches know what matters... Points against.

Last year, we gave up 19.9 points per game, this year we are at 21.4 per game with our sack production cut in half.

For all your complaining about "putting players in a position to succeed", it's ironic that you want to blitz Jarvis and Timmons more.

Missing Heyward and Shazier for multiple games impacts what you run from a blitz perspective.

Losing Dupree from day 1, impacts your edge.

 

Steelers Opponents avg pts per game / pts against Steelers

Was 22.7 / 16
Cin 20.0 / 16
Phi 26 / 34
KC 22.7 / 14
NYJ 17.0 / 13
Mia 20.9 / 30
NE 25.1 / 27

It'll be interesting to see what these numbers look like later in the year (New England points per game will continue to go up, Miami offense looking on track, etc)

 

It's tough because we've been spoiled for so long with great defenses. We hold them up to a higher standard and expect them to be better.

'If you're not first, you're last'...Ricky Bobby

 

It's tough for people to comprehend the transition from an All World - All Time Great defense, to a rebuild, to a young defense.... all over the course of significant change to offenses at the NFL level. "Sub Package" football, as the base defense, is relatively new.

We lack talent right now.
The Talent we have is injured or "green".
It's going to take time.

 

We are late to the party in terms of how to approach Defense ..We need better skilled players at CB and at Safety ,you can't play Defense with a bunch of slot CB'S and hit first Safeties ..This Team still needs a #1 and a #2 CB guys who can play man or zone and can attack the Football against elite WR'S ...This Team still needs a rangy Safety one who can read plays make great breaks on the ball and change ball games ...

We have been discussing for years what is more important the pass rush or the coverage ,and as I always stated if guys can't cover for that initial 2.5 seconds it makes no difference who the front 7 is or how you blitz them or use them...A good Defense must make a QB come off his go to read the only way to do that is be a threat to make a break and a play on the ball ..If you have that then QB'S don't even look that way most of the time ....Our current D strikes no fear on the outside nor on the backside , we have got to get a lot better and it will require better and different types of talent than we currently have...

 

We've lost our two best defenders to injury in Heyward and Shazier... we get run on like mofos without them in there. You don't stop the run, you don't win games. Simple as that.

 

You said in the other thread that they have the talent to run Bradley's scheme.

Which is it?

If they have talent better suited to another scheme, they need to run that scheme, no? Thanks for making my point.

 

That's not the only stat. They are historically bad in other areas.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/10/steelers-secondary-lacking-splash-historic-level/

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/10/statistically-steelers-2016-pass-defense-alarmingly-bad/

 

That's a hilariously naive statement. It's a long process to change schemes. We've been changing scheme for the last 2 years in Pittsburgh.

Second, "having the talent" to run a scheme doesn't mean it will be more or less successful than the current scheme. Most likely it would mean a significant step backwards as a new playbook is constructed, new tech/scheme is taught, etc.

I personally have a preference for a mix of 2gap/1gap football. I have a preference for disguising cover 1 and 3 with a single high free safety (which we don't have the talent to run, by the way).

My personal philosophy on defensive scheme and my view of our front line defensemen, leads me to believe we'd be able to make the transition to Gus scheme. But it would mean years of imbeciles like yourself complaining that the coaches have no gameplan.

 

Historically bad splash plays and pass defense... and yet, 11th in Points Against.... must be an historically good coaching job.