Steelers biggest opponent in 2020? Covid-19

I hope this link leads you to the PFF article, not sure if it is part of their free content or paid prescription. If it doesn’t take you there, I’ll post snippets of it, great read and reason to be excited about this season... if they have one

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-pittsb...driving-force-behind-an-afc-contender-in-2020

 

Here ya go. Some gifs and charts to go along with the content that I left off but this is the gist of it.


At the start of the 2019 season, the Steelers fielded one of the league’s worst coverage units, and repeated mental errors led to explosive pass plays and easy touchdowns for the opposition. So, after allowing the second-most explosive pass plays of 15 plus yards during their first two games (16), the Steelers traded what is now the 18th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who produced immediate results.

Fitzpatrick served as an immediate cure for the Steelers’ leaky secondary from the second he walked on to the field in the black and gold. Not only did he provide a safety net from mental miscues and mistakes, but he also brought his instinct for making big plays and creating turnovers.

From Week 3 on, the former Alabama defensive back allowed just eight catches from 16 targets in primary coverage, and he gave up a passer rating of just 27.3 to opposing quarterbacks, the best figure among all defensive backs who saw at least 15 targets from Week 3 to Week 17.

Fitzpatrick is a versatile coverage defender who can play in the box, cover from the slot or play in space against speedy receivers. He may be the final piece in helping general manager Kevin Colbert build a new version of the Steel Curtain.

THE PASS-RUSH IS AS STRONG AS EVER
Over the last three seasons in Pittsburgh, the defense has provided quarterback pressure without much of a problem. Led by Cameron Hayward (180), T.J. Watt (171) and Bud Dupree (137), the Steelers’ team total of 926 pressures over the last three years is the second-best mark in the NFL. The team’s 90.2 pass-rush grade, is second to only the Philadelphia Eagles over that same period.

They are, however, the only defense in the league that has produced 50 or more sacks in each of the last three seasons. From 2017-19, they led all teams with 170 quarterback sacks, 17 more than the second-place Carolina Panthers.

The Steelers had the league’s highest-graded pass-rush in 2019, and T.J. Watt was his team’s (and the league’s) highest-graded edge rusher. Watt led the Steelers with 81 total quarterback pressures — 18 sacks, 19 quarterback hits and 44 hurries — and his relentless motor helped him secure a pressure rate of 16.8% through the regular season, tied for sixth among edge rushers who rushed the passer at least 100 times.

COVERAGE MAKES THE DEFENSE COMPLETE
We’ve been saying it for a while now, but the most valuable aspect of defensive play is coverage, not pass rush. Even the great ’85 Chicago Bears defense was no match for the quick passing game of Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins, as agreat pass-rush with no coverage behind it is easy prey for any quarterback who has the poise to quickly and accurately distribute the ball before defenders arrive to hit their mark.

Before the start of the 2019 season, the Steelers bought into this premise and signed free agent cornerback Steven Nelson to join veteran Joe Haden and nickel corner Mike Hilton. And, as we mentioned earlier, they quickly developed into one of the top secondaries in the league once they were bolstered by the addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick.

While defensive turnovers are an unreliable and unstable element from year to year, the Steelers’ defensive backs were a driving force behind the team’s defense last season, which actually led the NFL with a combination of 38 fumble recoveries and interceptions.

Cornerbacks Nelson (80.3 PFF coverage grade), Hilton (73.0) and Haden (71.3) all finished the season ranked among PFF’s top 25 players at their position in terms of PFF coverage grade. Haden and Fitzpatrick each led with five interceptions, while the secondary combined to allow the third-fewest first downs (91) league-wide.

A WELL-ROUNDED UNIT CAPABLE OF CARRYING ITS OFFENSE
After the team lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a season-ending injury, the Pittsburgh defense was forced to carry a dead-weight offense that ranked last in both PFF grade (59.9) and EPA per play (-0.211).

The mixture of elite pass-rush and coverage made the Steelers one of the league’s best units, and even though they lost their final three games and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season, the defense still held their opponents below 20 points in each of those final three games. The team ended the season with top-five grades in run defense (89.5, second), pass-rush (90.8, first) and coverage (89.9, fifth), so imagine what they could have done in January had the offense been able to carry its weight.

With no first-round pick in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft, the Steelers used the franchise tag to retain Bud Dupree, who is coming off a season in which he earned career-high marks in PFF overall grade, PFF pass-rush grade and total pressure. In free agency, the team also signed tight end Eric Ebron and veteran offensive lineman Steven Wisniewski to help supplement their inept offense from one year ago.

Despite these relatively minor upgrades, the Steelers earned a top-10 ranking on PFF’s Improvement Index, having earned 0.15 wins through those transactions to go along with an improvement percentage of 3%.

With a healthy Ben Roethlisberger in 2020, the Steelers will no longer be the offensive juggernaut with a defense as its Achilles heel. And even if the Steelers fail to replicate the high turnover rate from one year ago, its star power on defense is undeniable. So, with the lethal combination of top-ranked pressure and coverage, the Steelers' defense makes the team a contender in the AFC for 2020

 

Defense didn’t just look good on paper last year, played good too