Do the Steelers need a new DC and defensive system?

Number look good in the regular season but against elite competition and in the playoffs they stuggle big time just to be competitive



And we all know that the Steelers have given up 30 points or more in the playoffs in each of the last 5 games (30 PPG is higher than the highest scoring team in the NFL this season) and when we play against elite offense, it is often ugly

They need major changes on this side of the ball.I would be very happy if they have a new DC outside of the organization too

 

I agree their needs to be changes. I'm not sold on Austin as well as the secondary coach. Also using your ball hawk safety to much in run support signals issues. The communication in the secondary is putrid. The zone scheme needs to be tweaked.

I would welcome an outside hire for DC. Someone who is more then a puppet.

 

YES. It's the same old same old every year, zones picked apart, can't defend 3rd and long.

 

I think it's sad that without watt they're not winning games.

So I say yes. Even though I like their defense.

 

Yes, it's the same defensive story every year. I would like a new DC as well with some new schemes. MT should stay out some on the defense and let the new DC run his show.

 

We were in man to man the 9th most frequently in the nfl.

 

We have one player Watt doing all the heavy lifting. Just like the offense we need talent upgrades on the defensive side of the ball as well.

 

yes

 

first off the main problem this year again i might add is injuries. this was not even close to the same defense we went through or started the season with. let's add JPJ was a rookie. holcomb, alexander, roberts during the playoff game, watt, minkah, kazee out for several games on suspension, neal, riley, thompson. that is a lot of starters and good depth. then you have to throw in decent players but they have not been here very long, like rowe and jack. every week they were learning the defense but also several different players around them every week. not trying to make excuses but all this makes a huge difference in cohesion.

 

That's what amazing to me that we keep Tomlin. As Terry said he's a rah rah guy and the players love him but when it comes down to it in the big games, the attention to detail and elite coaches/players usually will shine. We have neither.

 

Glad someone was paying attention. Bringing guys in off the couch to start and it’s a system issue.

 

some of those detail guys that had such good seasons also got blown out of the playoffs in round one.

 

miami, philly, dallas, cleveland.

 

Too many injuries at ILB
Age of the DL is a concern
Corners outside of JPJ are bad

A new DC does not fix those issues.

 

Tony Robbins (NFL Edition).

That NE game was the saddest thing I've ever seen, out-coached by BB AGAIN at 3-10, with Bailey Zappe at QB, a dead team probably all knowing BB is done at the end of the year, and comfortable throughout the game, 21-10 going into the 4th. Steelers mustered up 8 points 2nd half. NE didn't even need to score 2nd half to win.

Enough, we have seen these out-coachings, egg-layings to inferior opposition a million times over the years.

 

I would be shocked if defensive line isn’t addressed in a significant way during the off-season. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did so via early draft pick and free agency.

 

No, but there were way too many defensive breakdowns this season and the piss-poor job of adjusting to the Patriots in that loss are good reasons for new leadership on defense.

 

I believe our defensive issues fall on 2 problems. #1 Personnel. Tomlin built the defense with a plan to get faster. We were getting killed by opponents TE's and our ILB's were unable to cover anyone in the pass. SO we got small and fast up the middle...at least that's what we're trying to do. This was working until Shazier went down. The primary reason this was working was our D-line's ability to stuff the run and seal off the edges. It allowed our ILB's to run to the ball with less traffic. Also our safeties were physical and solid in run support so it allowed Shazier to play his game and take away the middle of the field. We than failed miserably replacing shazier . the safety play declined rapidly, and Tuitt & Hargrove exit and boom... our defense no longer can successfully be small up the middle... opponents start killing us on the ground, which if you know anything about the 3-4 it quickly falls apart if you cannot stop the run. The addition of Minkah and Watt breaking out obviously helped us get back to respectability but our ILB"s were horrible up until this past season and injuries killed us. IMO we mishandled personnel so poorly that we were chasing our tail and running out backups much of the last few seasons. This year our d-line and ILB play improved for a short time till injuries struck. We need to improve the D-line. Not just a serviceable player, we need a stud on the D-line opposite Cam or at NT . We need a good ILB that can stay healthy. We need an aggressive SS. That's 3 huge needs but if we can address those positions I think we have a dominant defense . Obviously that is a tall order but I think if we can address 2 of the 3 that's good enough.

The other issue IMO is game preparation. Getting your asses handed to you every first Quarter is 100% on game planning. We're so predictable opponents know exactly what to do. Good QB's will eat us for breakfast which is what happens every playoff game. We see WAYYYY too many blown coverages late in the season. I get having those issues in the first 3-5 games.... by week 8 or so we should not be making mental errors every series. If it were not for Watt we lose 3 or 4 more games a year largely because our secondary makes mental errors and Watt covers alot of those gaffes up w/ his speed rush.

 

Ron Cook says we should trade TJ Watt ---what say you steeler fans.I say yes because of his salary.Also def. coor. got to go.need something better than ZONE def.

 

The list of journeymen QB's who have smoked us is a long ass list

 

Those that thing TJ Watt needs to go is an idiot. Seriously look at our record without him. He is a player that can’t be replaced. It’s not even for his fantastic play on the field, but he gets more attention when on the field to give an edge to our other players like Highsmith.

It makes me cringe when people say we should trade the BEST defensive player for the last 3 years.

if Watt wouldn’t have been taken out by his own player and was in the playoff game, we would have seen a different outcome.

 

How about Derek TJ will be 30 and is still a beast. No idea how long he can perform at the level he does but IMO he has the confidence and dedication to kick ass for 2-3 more seasons. I have no idea the NFL life span of guys like him. We stay injury free (mostly) and get a decent defensive draft we all would want TJ anchoring that defense.

 

IDK where they were on total def, but in scoring def...they were 19.1 PPG. As much as they were in the field, with the many injuries that is actually a pretty good number. In today's NFL if you can be under 20 PPG then you are doing something right, but the opposite is true for the O, if you cannot score 20 consistently then you have issues. I think our O scoring average did improve at seasons end, bottom line though the D gave us many of those wins.

Improvements needed, certainly, but I do not think the scheme is as much an issue as preparation (coaching), practice (coaching and player development) and then preformance...we have a cast to build around, namely, Benton, Watt, Highsmith, Minkah, Porter...that is a pretty good starting point, now can we fill in the holes?

 

Think you pretty much nailed it

 

Forget Week 8. It was happening in the playoff game.