Where does the D stand?

https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/2023-nfl-defense-rankings-team-pass-and-rush-stats

Read it for yourself. Why is the D getting a pass for being so weak? We are nearly at the bottom of every significant category. I mean we are 30th in a lot. No chants for firing Austin?

 

The excuse will be because the offense is so bad and they are always on the field. The truth is they are not very good without Cam at DT and the secondary stinks.

 

Can this post be tucked into the "I wonder about our fans sometimes" thread?

 

Middle of the pack in points against. Lead in forced fumbles. Fifth in sacks. Tenth in interceptions.

I guess none of those categories are significant.

Why not just create 20 or 30 threads titled "Steelers suck" and save yourself some time? It's funny how a team that is so thoroughly awful is 3-2 and in first place in the division.

 

Fans are fickle as I'm sure you know. I was on a few MLB message boards and the Brave fans want to get rid of everybody after a 104 win season

 

In this current era of football, teams have found a way to win games with a potent offense and a subpar defense. The opposite rarely happens anymore. Teams just don't win with a really good defense and an anemic offense. That, to me, is why it's much more important to fix the offense first.

 

The defense certainly has room for improvement, but there has been a lot of good. We've had multiple defensive scores, are towards the top of the pack in impact plays (sacks, turnovers, etc.), and have had some good efforts closing out games against Cleveland, LV, and Baltimore. The rush defense has been very up and down (the Heyward injury is significant here), and the secondary in particular has been a bit rough (Porter Jr. NEEDS to have a bigger role). Holcomb, Benton, Porter Jr., Ogunjobi have all been bright spots outside of the obvious Watt/Highsmith combo. Wallace/Peterson/Sullivan have been very disappointing.

Sure, we can have a discussion on Austin, but the defense certainly isn't in "panic mode" as was described by Silverback. The team is nowhere near perfect. We have obvious blemishes offensively and defensively... However, we have found a way to win close games and if we continuously improve across the season, I am sure that we will be competing for a playoff spot down the stretch.

 

Well, we've gone 9-3 the last 12 games with our defense carrying an anemic offense. I know its a smaller sample size, but if you have impact players in the right spots (OLB, DL, Secondary) that create splash plays (sacks, turnovers, defensive scores) at a high rate you can turn that into wins at a high rate.

 

To clarify the question: Before the half or after the half???

 

The D ranks 30th. Not gonna win much with the 30th D joined with the 30th offense.

 

Winning games in the regular season is one thing. Playoff games are a whole different animal.

 

Our defense is a problem but at least they can have their moment....

 

The D gets a pass because everyone gets enamored with splash plays. Our whole defense is predicated on the splash play. You block Watt and Highsmith and you see what happens to our defense. I so want Tomlin to commit to bigger defensive lineman in the trenches. I prefer the way Lebeau defenses played with a big NT and a 3-4 but I get why Tomlin doesn’t want to commit to that many defensive lineman in todays NFL. But with that being said then why not at least commit to two big Hybrid NT types that can occupy blockers and push the pocket? We don’t need Gap Penetrators to create splash plays. Let the Edge Players get the sacks. The Defensive lineman should be all about continuing the run and pushing the pocket so the QB can’t step up and away from the edge pressure. We could possibly do that with Heyward and Benton we will see if Tomlin commits to that lineup. ON the back end we are a mess with the exception of Minkah and we aren’t getting Mink’s best because he is trying to cover for so many inept players beside him. We need to start Porter and move Peterson to the Slot. Not much we can do with Wallace because we really don’t have anyone else. But next year we need to draft another a CB high and preferably another Safety. The MLB’s are doing ok this year. To me they are just like a running back. You can’t really evaluate them if the guys in the trenches aren’t keeping them clean. In the case of our scheme we don’t really play to keep them clean because we are asking our defensive lineman to penetrate the gap and not maintain blockers so essentially we aren’t really being that fair to our backers. You did see how well they play though when we had three down lineman in during Baltimore.

 

You already started a thread on this

http://thesteelersfans.com/forums/threads/bad-offense-the-d-is-actually-worse.31417/

 

You can look at defense stats passing and running yards. But in the end it is if we win or not. I think the defense has played well overall. We have given up a lot of yards. But we have made a lot of splash plays. 3-2 my friends!

 

Defense has won 3 out of the 5 games so far... 2 nearly all by themselves.

 

True, but we haven't been under these conditions.

 

They won three of five that way, and they are 17th in points allowed.

(Oh, right. Hiding lol)

 

There will always be some teams that are perceived as terrible, middle teams, and some teams that rise above the rest. The middle or lesser team can defeat the team with the best record. Welcome to sports. Parity is the NFL's goal.

 

And how does the D stand as likely to continue to win games basically on their own? in the playoffs (if they make it there which is in itself doubtful like last year).

 

Only thing I care about in today's NFL on D... Is Points allowed, sacks, pressures, and turnovers....OH ,and of course....Wins. The rest is just icing on the cake.

 

RUSHING YARDS!
RUSHING YARDS!

 

and how to play 11 cornerbacks at the same time.

 

See I told you that the Steelers suck.