Steelers Defense, anything we are missing?

[patfanken]

Sam Monson goes position by position to determine which teams are best among the Falcons, Packers, Patriots and Steelers. When it comes to the two levels of defense, Pittsburgh has 2nd best secondary (behind New England) and 2nd best defensive front seven (behind Green Bay)

Ranking the conference title teams at every position | PFF

Defense Front - 2nd out of the four remaining teams

Pittsburgh’s defensive front seven may be the most high-variance of any of the remaining units. If they all fire and play to the best of their ability, this is the best remaining unit, but they also have the potential to be the worst if the reverse happens. The fact that James Harrison – at 38 years of age – is still their best edge rusher and only consistent source of pressure is a major issue. And while inside linebackers Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier have very good athleticism and playmaking ability, they are inconsistent and can be the cause of big plays going against the defense, too, especially in coverage, where they have a tendency to bite on the first thing they see

Secondary - 2nd out of the four remaining teams

Pittsburgh’s secondary is improving as the season goes on, and the young players who were such liabilities early in the year develop and find their feet. First-round rookie cornerback Artie Burns was picked on early in the year, but against Kansas City he allowed just two catches for 13 yards and he has allowed 40 or fewer receiving yards in seven of his last nine games starting. Their other top corners William Gay and Ross ****rell are both also good coverage defenders, and the issues in this secondary are at safety.​

The very fact he considers GB as the best front 7 should make anything else Monson says completely irrelevant. GB's defense is a disaster.

 

[SVN]

Pittsburgh has the DL the Patriots should have drafted in 2014, in Tuitt. They've got cagey veterans in Harrison and Timmons. They've got an inconsistent, but talented, LB in Shazier. They've got a bit of speed and potential in the backfield, as well.

And none of that is likely going to matter, unless they change their defensive scheme. If you tell me they're doing that, then I'll have more concerns.

They did do it once , 2011 I believe in pittsburgh where they played a lot more man .So its not totally impossible they try and do it again

 

[Deus Irae]

They did do it once , 2011 I believe in pittsburgh where they played a lot more man .So its not totally impossible they try and do it again

Yeah... LeBeau shook things up, but will Butler? To me, that's the $64,000 question.

 

[patfanken]

Some comments on the comments:

1. This has been an excellent and informative thread and I've only read the last 2 pages.

2. IMHO, I don't worry a bit about Dupree and Harrison, especially if the Steelers continue to use them as outside rushers. Our OT's have face better guys than these this season and have faired very well.

3. As DI said, Stephan Tuitt is definitely the guy to watch. He has the size and power to pose a problem to our interior personnel. I wouldn't be surprised to see him lined up on Andrews in passing situations. That would be a mismatch

4. Any stats that include any data from any game pre-december is pretty worthless. In fact trying to predct this game with any stats is probably purely a mental excercise. Both the Steeler and Pats D's have improved statistically during the last quarter of the year, but I don't understand why the Steeler D doesn't get the same "you didn't play against a quality offense" criticism the Pats have gotten.

5. I expect the Steeler run defense to be better this game, but I don't expect it t0 matter. The key for the Pats run game isn't so much the number of yards it gets, but the number of carries. The closer that number is to 30 the better. If it gets past that, consider the game won.

6. I'm thinking that it won't be Bennett who will get the Gronk routes that were so successful, but Floyd. I don't know if he'll get the targets Gronk would have gotten, in fact I doubt it, but he will force Pittsburgh to defend him with the kind of personnel they'd defend Gronk with, and if they choose to put a LB on him, he WILL get targets.

7. The most effective defenses against the Pats offense have been those that maximize their coverage and rush with no more than 4. The Steeler secondary is not good enough to cover against all of the Pats potential targets, and I don't think the Steelers can get close to Brady rushing just 4 if the Pats can control Tuitt. Given time he will find the open man.

8. I think the greatest benefit to last week's uneven performance was the fact Brady had great success throwing 50-50 balls downfield. I know in the past it is something he'd rather not do, and often throws the ball away rather than try one. But maybe because of the Houston game he might feel more comfortable. A well throw back shoulder fade is an impossible pass to defend, and between Bennett, Hogan, and Floyd we have plenty of people to throw it to,

9. It will be raining during the game and perhaps windy. That is to our advantage because Brady was the best bad weather QB in NFL history, long before he rose to become the GOAT period.

 

[WHPats]

Some comments on the comments:

1. This has been an excellent and informative thread and I've only read the last 2 pages.

2. IMHO, I don't worry a bit about Dupree and Harrison, especially if the Steelers continue to use them as outside rushers. Our OT's have face better guys than these this season and have faired very well.

3. As DI said, Stephan Tuitt is definitely the guy to watch. He has the size and power to pose a problem to our interior personnel. I wouldn't be surprised to see him lined up on Andrews in passing situations. That would be a mismatch

4. Any stats that include any data from any game pre-december is pretty worthless. In fact trying to predct this game with any stats is probably purely a mental excercise. Both the Steeler and Pats D's have improved statistically during the last quarter of the year, but I don't understand why the Steeler D doesn't get the same "you didn't play against a quality offense" criticism the Pats have gotten.

5. I expect the Steeler run defense to be better this game, but I don't expect it t0 matter. The key for the Pats run game isn't so much the number of yards it gets, but the number of carries. The closer that number is to 30 the better. If it gets past that, consider the game won.

6. I'm thinking that it won't be Bennett who will get the Gronk routes that were so successful, but Floyd. I don't know if he'll get the targets Gronk would have gotten, in fact I doubt it, but he will force Pittsburgh to defend him with the kind of personnel they'd defend Gronk with, and if they choose to put a LB on him, he WILL get targets.

7. The most effective defenses against the Pats offense have been those that maximize their coverage and rush with no more than 4. The Steeler secondary is not good enough to cover against all of the Pats potential targets, and I don't think the Steelers can get close to Brady rushing just 4 if the Pats can control Tuitt. Given time he will find the open man.

8. I think the greatest benefit to last week's uneven performance was the fact Brady had great success throwing 50-50 balls downfield. I know in the past it is something he'd rather not do, and often throws the ball away rather than try one. But maybe because of the Houston game he might feel more comfortable. A well throw back shoulder fade is an impossible pass to defend, and between Bennett, Hogan, and Floyd we have plenty of people to throw it to,

9. It will be raining during the game and perhaps windy. That is to our advantage because Brady was the best bad weather QB in NFL history, long before he rose to become the GOAT period.

Very on-point analysis. I hope BB takes a page out of his Super Bowl XXV win with the Giants over the Bills and pounds the run, pounds the run and pounds it some more. It'll control the clock and defending the run can be exhausting for a defense for 4 quarters. I think KC's biggest folly in last week's game was not running the ball enough, abandoning it way too early. Alex Smith is not an elite QB, their offense likes quick throws and misdirection stuff, and since they stopped running the ball and usually emptied the backfield, Pitt's pass rushers could just pin their ears back every play and come after Smith. That's what killed NE last year in the AFC title game against Denver, no run game, (having a ton of injuries didn't help either.) I hope Pitt is so focused on Brady that they don't prepare enough for Blount and Lewis. Go up the gut, do sweeps, do delays. Make that line move and keep those safeties honest. Then when they start to cheat up, go over the top. Balance, you can't win the SB without it. All week all you hear is Bell, Bell, Bell. But Blount and Lewis are going to play just as important of a role imo. Go Pats!