Potsie's thoughts on Keith Butler

http://www.steelers.com/news/articl...ngs-to-D/d0ccdb35-32bc-4213-9201-33e27b492b7d

 

He stated he believes being around Dick and the system will be similar with a little more spice. Really? it's time for some new spice..what once had a unique flavor everyone in the league is ammune to. I'm thinking Keith will bring a new look for the defense going forward or it's deja vu. "Obviously" Butler will build an aggressive regime which have been missing for several years!

 

If Butler wants to keep his job the defense better be more aggressive, 33 sacks like they had last season isn't good enough.

 

Does this mean they'll eliminate 8 yard cushions by the CBs and not drop their best pass rushing linebacker into coverage 70% of the time???

 

If we don't get pressure on the QB and don't give 8 yard cushions, we will be 0-16. With our DB's we can't play tight. Now if we play 8 yards back and get good pressure, we should be fine. If we get better with the DB's than we were last year, then in certain situations we can play tight and we will be better than good.

 

Can't get pressure when you've got your best pass rushing linebacker dropping into coverage more often than not. I liked what I heard Joey Porter say the other day and I hope this is coming from Butler. He said they want their linebackers running forward, not backward! I say let em pin their ears back and "RUSH THE QUARTERBACK"! I think DL tried to get a little too cute at times but that's JMHOFWIW.

 

Judging by the corners we selected in the draft this year we aren't gonna be playing press coverage any time soon. Now, I do think we will be sending the LBers a little more this year tho.. Hopefully that ends up creating more sacks/turnovers.

 

The problem is that no matter how good the pass rush is from our LBs , if our CBs are giving away 5 yard passes that's what the other team is gonna take. Our biggest problem is getting nickel and dimed to death. To me the key is to mix it up and disguise our coverages better. I would also like to see our DL be given more opportunities to get after the QB. We've been hearing about them being turned loose for years but not really seeing it,at least I hope that's not been the case. If so we are in trouble. I think we have the athleticism along our DL that could cause problems. The pressure needs to come from up the middle,we haven't seen much of that in years. Meanwhile teams have been killing us with it....I know our OL had been a issue in the past but that can't be the only thing. I believe some of our schemes and blitzes are too predictable and outdated. I hope we have new tricks up our sleeves. The talent is in place....now let's go get it.

 

I agree thesteeldeal. 8 yard cushions? More like 10. Nothing wrong with bump and run. To much zone has killed them. This Defense will have to be more aggressive in all phases. The days of just stopping the run and not giving up the big play are over. The dink and dunk eats up time and moves the chains as deal stated. Need the rush and secondary on the same page. Relentless pressure with solid coverage. Let the players make plays...

 

The last few years their biggest problem has been giving up the big play.

 

Big plays have definitely been a problem but most of them have come from poor tackling,missed assignments ,our LBs never getting home or our safeties never actually being a safety. Rarely were our CBs flat out beat. We seem to play a lot of zone with no help over the top.10 yard cushions will not get it done, neither will straight bump and run but if we can mix it up and at the same time everyone being on the same page, we can get back to Blitzburgh.

 

Uh, what? That's not even remotely close to being true. We play mostly cover three, as well as off-man with one high safety. Sometimes two, but Troy was always best elsewhere so Mitchell played a lot of high safety. I would be shocked if we ran one play all year outside of our red zone where we didn't have any help over the top. We got beat because some of our corners (Allen in particular) got burned, a safety blew a coverage (both Troy and Mitchell were guilty here), or just straight up missed tackles/assignments like you mentioned.

 

You're right, there's nothing wrong with bump and run... The problem is that we don't have a corner (outside of MAYBE Cortez Allen) on the roster that is capable of bump and run/press man coverage. They would get straight up owned. We also drafted a 5'9" guy and a 5'10" guy who are prototypical zone/off-man corners in Golson and Grant. Neither are press-man capable.

While I agree that we sometimes play off too far, I don't think pressing our corners is gonna do us any good. Our draft showed us that the FO has no press-man plans in the immediate future.

 

Well it sure seems like we don't play with help over the top our safeties are nowhere to be found on deep balls whether it's by scheme or blown assignments the results are the same and that has to change.

 

We can both agree on this haha we definitely need to stop giving up so many big plays

 

i disagree about grant not being able to play some press coverage. he may be 5-10 but he's strong and fast. he's capable of jamming guys at the line. i think as the season and his career goes on grant will continue to get better and better.

safety is definately a problem spot because mitchells coverage skills are sorely lacking. if he has to come into the picture deep or turn and run with guys down the seam, he's terrible. i don't know how many times last year i saw him running downfield with a guy but he was two yards to either side of the receiver and couldn't contest the catch if he tried. he is more of a guy that attacks the play moving towards it than side to side or turning and running with the play. league wide safety is the spot that makes the picks and we are sorely lacking in that department. i have alot more faith in thomas doing this than mitchell.

 

After reading through these posts, simple facts seem to pervade my mind. The first thought I have is that we are not likely to see many "bump and run" coverages as part of the package... I just don't think Butler will be revamping the D this much. I think we're likely to see a similar defense to DL's, but with more aggressive approaches to getting to the QB. As is stated in Any Given Sunday, "we made this shi# real fu$#ing simple"... meaning the pass rush is key. I think Butler will look at more creative ways to use our ILB's in blitzes, the same for our DE's, who are typically contain, and the most basic of all, which is that the ROLB and LOLB are going to have to make the QB uncomfortable and "jumpy" with the ball.

Making someone like Jimmy G nervous and trigger-happy will make the difference between us dictating the game vs. being in "cushion and protect" mode. That entire equation starts with a healthy pass rush.

Then, and only then, will our secondary be able to be "productive", by getting picks and jumps on balls.