Do the Steelers need a new DC and defensive system?

But you can still be physical and stop the run...The steelers struggle with that at times

 

Not just talking about this year but for several years...Austin is not very different from Butler and LeBeau(Lebeau was great in his prime but at the end he was washed)....Our defense has been too bad for so long against elite competition and in the playoffs

Also when we lose our best player, I understand that it hurts, but the problem is we are not competitive in defense when we lose Polamalu, Shazier or Watt

We need new ideas in defense too

 

Clearly I’m asking you specifically about this year. I don’t care about what’s tantamount to ancient history. So again the question is considering all of the injuries what exactly do YOU think Austin should have and could have done differently?

 

My thread was not just about this year.....

 

So

 

Overall I think that I like the schemes they use on defense even though it is kind of hard to fully assess them due to playing opposite such a poor offense and the injuries have piled up due to the team imbalance. I think that they’ve played above their talent level despite having such a high paid unit which is crazy to even say.

Personnel wise there needs to be some changes because that’s a bigger issue than the schemes. Lots of decisions have to be made. Holcomb had a nasty knee injury, Kwon had an achilles and isn’t even signed. Roberts played well but is clearly not a long term solution. They still need a slot corner. Ogunjobi is overpaid. Leal seemed to have regressed. Cam will be a year older.

Somehow they need to fill holes and get younger/cheaper.

That’s been 2 seasons in a row now. The ineptitude of the offense has significantly contributed to the injuries on defense. I agree there but again though, if it was about coaching then how was Mason able to come in with Canada’s same scheme/plays and look like a competent nfl qb?

 

looks like austin may be staying.

https://steelersdepot.com/2024/01/d...teryl-austin-as-dc-confirms-contract-expired/

 

I think we would have been better off with Brian Flores.

 

Brice

I figured you were still trying to put this together so I put it into one post

 

What is that line from Office Space, about them fixing the glitch and no longer paying him, so they assumed he would stop coming to work once he quit receiving paychecks.

Something like... Did you fire him? No, we fixed the glitch, so he will no longer get paid.

 

The Ravens and Cleveland both still play a punishing brand of defense.

 

I agree with what you are saying. I don’t like the way our personnel is matched with our scheme. Tomlin desires to have gap penetrating defensive lineman with smallish inside linebackers that can cover. It doesn’t work. The gap defensive lineman don’t eat up blockers as a result the linebackers get blocked by free running guards or tackles so we get gouged for big run plays. If you can’t stop the run your defense gets in unpredictable short and third situations so we get killed with play action. Not to mention we literally had one serviceable CB all year with JPJ. The rest were not starter quality. You look at Baltimore and they have great MLB play but those guys have the luxury of having two large NT type DT’s in front of them to eat up gaps and blockers. It allows them to flow freely to the ball and it allows them to empty smaller faster mlb types. Not to mention when you have two large DT’s to push the pocket back it helps the edge rushers because the QB can’t step up in the pocket to avoid them.

Heyward is big enough but Ogunjobi is to small. He gets pushed around and singled up all the time and disappears in games. We don’t need our DT’s getting sacks, we need them to gap contain, occupy blockers and push the pocket back. For some reason Tomlin has been enamored with smallish quick DT’s similar to Warren Sapp who he coached in Tampa. Ever since then he has been trying to get those types.

 

Felt the same way. Defense has been pretty good at times but can't be solely predicated on one player for its success.

 

I think if the opposong offense is good and clicking with a soild/elite QB then it doesn't much matter what your defense is doing in today's NFL, it's not a fair fight. Which is why I want a more dynamic offense than what we have. I love the old school way of winning games, crush the oppostion with the run game and then strangle the life out of their offense with a suffocating defense like we used to. but it's just not realistic The old Troy, Harrison, Keisel, Smith defense was totally shut down at times.

I don't think you can do that in today's NFL, the best defenses of today are nothing on what we used to have 10-20 years ago - our defense, the rats defense, TB's defense with Sapp and Lynch etc. The game has changed. Look at Watt and Highsmith, they're held on every play, nothing gets called, it's a flag party down the field every 3rd down...Watt's the best defensive player in the game but his impact isn't what it should be because he's not allowed to fight fair. He's a game wrecker as is, but just imagine what he could be if those endless holds were called?

I don't think you can set out to to win the SB by beating everyone 17-10 and 21-17. This seems to be Steelers plan again, you have to be able rtun the ball, you have to commit to it, but you have to be able to be dynamic as well. Teams can march down the field too easily and before you know it, and before you're reacted it's 21-0.

I keep hearing in today's NFL about so and so's great defense, then you see them get rolled anyway, the game has changed there's no dominating defenses any more.

 

i believe we beat those ravens twice this year.

we also use two down linemen a lot and two guys can't eat up too many blockers.

JPJ is our best CB but he is also grabby. i mentioned this when we got him. he did it in college a lot. he doesn't play physical either which is a staple in this defense. he shy's away from tackles in the run game.

we are not near aggressive enough on defense overall. some guys are and some are not. the ravens are front to back and it shows. we don't gang tackle and are not aggressive following the ball amongst our DB's. that has to change. i do think we need to draft another corner early in this draft.

injuries were a big part of our woes on defense. neal going down was a big part of our aggressive defense. more than first thought.

thompson finally helped that and then he got hurt. kazee getting suspended didn't help us either in that department. minkah not only was hurt but didn't have his best year either. every little bit added up.

 

The afc championship game was decided 17-10 and many criticized the Ravens decision to throw the ball so much instead of running it more.

The Bengals made last year’s afc championship game when they could’ve easily lost at home to the Huntley led Ravens in the wildcard game. They lost to the chiefs 23-20

There are no great teams in this league. The 9ers could’ve easily lost both of their home playoff games.

The Steelers aren’t setting out to build a team that win games scoring 20 or less, but there’s nothing wrong with building a team around a good running game and strong defense especially when you don’t have an elite qb.

 

Yeah some games are low scoring, but this isn't the 70s, you also have to be able to win games especially in good weather and indoors by scoring more than 20 at times. There's nothing wrong with that model as a base but you have to be able to change it up a gear and be dynamic too.

 

I agree with you here. To be a true champion contender you have to be able to score points but I still think that the balance’s complimentary style of football works today

 

Yes

 

It can works but at some point your QB need to step up big time

 

We beat the Ravens twice this year for a couple of reasons. The first game they had a ton of dropped balls and turned the ball over at inopportune times. The second game they didn’t play alot of starters. IN addition we actually match up well against them because we attack the perimeter of the field in the passing game where they are weak and we run right up the A and B gap instead of wide zone which running wide against them with their Linebackers and safeties is difficult to do.

Yes we are weak at CB from a tackling perspective so that is all the more reason why you contain the edge with your Edge rushers instead of crashing down the line with them and essentially completely giving up outside contain and leaving the Db on an island to make the tackle. Minkah was and is the only Safety worth keeping out of the bunch you mentioned. Maybe Rowe ... The rest are a liability in coverage. It is really hard to get guys who are both good at coverage and run support on the back end. If I am going to err on the side of caution I would prefer my back end players to be good in coverage and thee Def. lineman and edge players to be good at contain the run and putting pressure on the QB. When I say putting pressure on the QB I mean the DT’s push the pocket so the QB can’t step up not actually gap penetrate to sack the QB. Leave the actual sacks up to the Edge players. If the DT’s gap penetrate they now are susceptible to going up big run plays or allowing blockers to get to the second level to block the linebackers.

In a perfect world you have two ILB’s that can cover and play the run but at the very least you have one thumper and one good coverage ILB. I think with Minkah’s ability to do both well we can get by with just one coverage linebacker and one thumper. This all starts and stops however with the DT play. To me that is where we are really following short both scheme wise and personnel wise. If Cam can get back to himself and they start Benton over Ogunjobi then I think we are much closer to what i would like to see. I still would like to see one more 330LB DT that can push the pocket and stuff the run.

 

I think you are forgetting just how bad Edmunds was and that the middle of the field was a problem with him there, too.

 

Problem is the NFL and the zebras don't want that back ever and the zebras would kill us. So hard to be intimidating and really physical when the rules are so bent against that style of play. The ravens have found a happy medium on D. Geez they shoutout the Chiefs in the second half. No way no how we do that as currently assembled even with all the pieces back healthy.

 

Ever since Hampton left we never really consistently stopped the run.

 

In big games, with well-matched terams it is usually the elite QB who makes the difference.