DL's Defense

Not too long ago I was reading about the Steelers defense and how the game has passed Dick LeBeau by.

Anybody want to eat some crow?

Step up to the plate for your serving. No Salt and Pepper needed. Take a big bite. There might not be enough to go around.


http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_ ... o-1-in-nfl

 

What is most impressive to me is the gear shifting defending diverse league leading offenses from the Bengals to the Skins to the Giants without missing a beat. Dick > todo el mundo!

 

not me. they are still not getting much pressure on the qb and have very few sacks. near the bottom in the NFL.

they are also not creating many turnovers. also near the bottom and they are one of the more penalized defenses.

im still not seeing many in game adjustments and his loyalty to some of the vets are hurting this team. Hampton and Keisel have been great Steelers, but McClendon and Hayward would be upgrades.

i know that its hard to argue with their ranking, but at some point their lack of forcing turnovers and getting pressure and all the penalties is going to kill them.

 

Until you change your avatar - I find it impossible to seriously debate you (I just hope that's not your daughter).

You're using stat arguments to counter stat arguments. "Near bottom in turnovers", "more penalized defenses"/defences, "very few sacks" versus total defense "ranking". At the end of the day - they're all statistics , some anomalies, but the only thing that matters is scoreboard and what I feel is most important - flexibility to adjusting to diverse offenses which I believe the team has done over the past 3 games. I'm not arguing that what you point out as deficiencies aren't important - it's just that there are different ways to be dominant and win SB's in the NFL.

 

condition improved ,and that tell me they came into the season understimating the first part of the schedule

 

It's only hard to argue if you believe that yards allowed is the true measure of a defense's (JOKE - or defence's ) performance.

 

Year in and year out the LeBeau defenses have been top 5 in the league and more often than not top 3 in points allowed. We've all screamed about CB's playing 10 yards off receivers yet the defenses still give up the fewest points. We've complained lately about the lack of pass rush yet the the defenses still give up the fewest yards. We crucify Ike to no end yet the opposing best WR's don't usually gain much (AJ Green = 8 yards,1 TD). We scream at him for not intercepting the ball more often yet we are probably tops in the league in 3 and outs. When it looks like getting rid of A.Smith and Farrior could have a big impact the next man rises to the occasion to stop the run. Troy is sidelined all season and opposing QB's still have trouble playing us.

I got news - DL is not going anywhere until DL decides it's time to hang it up and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

I would like to see more pressure and more turnovers, but the D played on Sunday didn't do much of that and still pretty much dominated that game. They only gave up 13 points to MVP candidate Manning on his home turf. Probably should take 7 away from that, at least 4, as they only got those points due to multiple bad calls.

I still think this team hasn't peaked yet. That is good.

 

Lol!

 

Good luck getting some of these ship jumpers to admit they were wrong, probably the same people who not too long ago said we're would be lucky to go 8-8. That bird is coming too.

 

I can admit I was apparently wrong about our defence. I never had much concerns with our offence, but I knew it would take a bit of time to get things going, especially with our injuries. Our defence still worries me though. We aren't getting turnovers and aren't getting pressure on the QB. Those are things that usually burn defences, but if we can continue our strong play without turnovers and sacks, I'm fine with that, I just question whether we can keep it up. Eli struggled badly, but he has been struggling for a few weeks now.

I worry what will happen if we have to play against Brady, Rodgers, Brees or Matt Ryan without getting pressure. I worry they'll light up our secondary.

 

this is exactly my point. im one that said i wont eat crow about DL and the defense. at some point they will need to get pressure and start getting sacks and at some point they will need to force some turnovers.

they have to lead the league in dropped potential INT's. even the forced fumble against the Giants they should have recovered, but Harrison tried to pick it up and run instead of just falling on it.

we saw it last year. the defense was ranked high, but when the playoffs came and they couldnt get any pressure on Tebow he looked like a HOF qb. pressure the qb and the turnovers will come. the few times they pressured Eli, he made mistakes.

if you look at that game the defense didnt do anything special. its not like they were hitting Eli all day and forcing him to make bad throws. he had a bad game. you cant count on that everytime you face a top qb. sure the defense had a lot to do with it, but i would bet money that Peyton, Brady, Shaub, Rogers, Brees and even Eli dont have that kind of game with the same defense the Steelers played on Sunday.

im not bashing the Steelers defense, im just saying that people are blind if they cant see that this is not the same defense that we saw a few years ago. most of the same players just 3 years slower.

 

We must have been watching different games!

 

I had to laugh at all of the "game has passed him by" comments. I mean what did they think happened? That one year he was the best DC in the league and then the next year he forgot how to football?

 

The lack of turnovers and sacks is a big concern. Before the NY game we had 7 takeawys versus NY's 24. If we had 24 takeawys this year we would be 8 - 0 or 7-1. DL is one of greatest and is doing everything he can. Our issue is the lack of talent in our defensive backfield. With Polamolu on the bench we have not playmakers back there. No turnovers mean the offense rarely gets the short field. If we are going to make a serious run, we have to start getting big plays out of our defense. Yards stats isn't going to be enough.

 

Couldn't have said it better, I wish we would get after the QB, even the best ones
makes mistakes when pressured.

 

I've been very critical of Lebeau early this year and I'm not that confidence in our defense. They have been playing good the past few games and I'm extremely happy but I still wouldn't mind or be heartbroken if Lebeau retired after this year.

 

Some of you guys are the same ones claiming Eli would light up the defense for 400-500 yards passing...ok...

 

I was predicting those type of numbers. I saw no reason why Eli wouldn't put up 400 yards. I also thought Ben would light up their secondary. I bet the over on that game. Never imagined it would be a defensive battle.

 

what game were you watching? the one i saw didnt display a defense with the ability to get a lot of pressure on the qb or force turnovers. sure they got their hands on the ball a few times. Lewis inparticular, but again they failed to actually complete the turnover. Ike had an INT, but he fought that catch right till the end and it hit him right in the hands.

you gonna tell me that if they play that same defense against Peyton or Brady the results will be the same? i know Eli has become a very good qb, but i would still put his brother and Brady ahead of him. you get pressure on the qb and they will make mistakes. the couple times they did get pressure on Eli he made a mistake. 1 int and a fumble that they failed to recover by the way.

they have the ability to be very good when healthy, but Harrison looks like a shell of himself and Keisel and Hampton arent making many plays anymore. Troys future is up in the air and right now their best lb is the guy everyone wanted gone.

all im saying is come playoff time they will need to be a better pass rushing team and better at creating turnovers. otherwise we will see another Tim Tebow type of performance against them again and that cant be argued.