Over the years we’ve seen many faces of Mike Tomlin-led Pittsburgh Steelers’ teams but I’m not certain we’ve ever seen a reversal of defensive fortunes like we saw against the Denver Broncos. What most fans are wondering today is where did this come from?
There’s one easy place to look and I’ll cover that first but there are a few others as well.
Steelers’ Defensive Coordinator Keith Butler made the switch that he’s been experimenting with in recent weeks. After sitting in zone for most of the first half and watching his secondary get ripped apart, Butler went to Brandon Boykin in the slot and removed Antwon Blake.
To be clear, Boykin doesn’t “replace” Blake. When Boykin comes in, he covers the inside or ‘slot’ receiver whereas Blake is a boundary corner who plays on the outside. What Butler does is slide William Gay out of the slot and into the boundary cornerback position which of course makes room for Boykin. Ross Cockrell mans the other boundary corner position.
This is typically done in the Steelers’ specialty defensive packages like the nickel. Blake would end up seeing less than 10 snaps on defense in the second half mainly because he just isn’t a guy capable of playing man to man defense. By my count, Blake didn’t see the field until more than halfway through the third quarter and not surprisingly, on his first play, the Broncos went right at him down the sideline to DeMaryius Thomas who couldn’t quite haul it in.
Blake also did not see any defensive snaps in the final four plus minutes which were critical snaps with the Broncos attempting to tie the game. If that doesn’t tell you something then I don’t know what does.
With Boykin in and Blake out, Butler allowed his corners to play tighter, especially Boykin. You’ll recall the huge first half by former Steeler Emmanuel Sanders right? He was nearly invisible following halftime and while part of that was Boykin, it was also the fact that Brock Osweiler was forced to go through his progressions and he struggled.
Sanders acknowledged as much in his postgame comments following the loss to the Steelers.
Boykin for Blake wasn’t the only change made defensively though. With his corners playing more aggressively, Butler was more willing to bring an extra rusher in hopes of getting to Osweiler. While the defense finished with just two sacks, they forced the 6′ 7″ Osweiler to move in the pocket a lot more than he wanted to and perhaps coupled with a sore non-thorwing shoulder, he was a shell of what he was in the first half.
If you’re wondering if this is the secondary you’re going to see from here on out don’t bet on it. The Steelers will likely come out Sunday in Baltimore with Blake on the boundary and Gay back in the slot but at that very least they found something they can go to in a pinch.
The only problem with that is that they can’t always rely on the offense to bail them out if the deficit is too great to overcome.
Photo courtesy of photos.denverpost.com
6 comments
If we make the playoffs, The only team that can’t put out a QB capable of handling our base defense is Houston. I truly thought Blake would be an adequate corner. truth is, he’s not. And why is he matched-up against the other team’s best WR? This team is capable of winning it all but some tweaks will need to be made and before halftime. Will Tomlin’s history of loyalty and stubbornness be the teams undoing. I have said since last year the phrase for this team should be be “best man up”.
While that is true sometimes it’s not always the best answer. Yes Butler made the changes to go towards press man coverage but you can’t always use that otherwise teams will adjust quickly to that and it easily spells trouble. The Steelers have always played Zone Coverage cause they have always believed there Front 7 would be able to generate pressure. Most fans don’t want to hear or like that philosophy but you try telling Keith Butler how to run the D and see what he tells you.
What’s most troubling about the Blake-Boykin thing is that we’ve constantly been told that Blake was the more effective tackler and as the season has progressed that couldn’t have been more false. That aside, I think you’ll continue to see Blake in the base defense regardless of what I or anyone else think about his ability.
Right now as it stands there is not 1 team that would be looking for Butler’s services that produce’s a pass defense that ranks 31 out of 32. So who really cares what he thinks we as fans want a Superbowl and if it’s obvious that they are playing guys who can’t get it done. Yes we have a right to say something to our first year defensive coordinator. especially if there is a better option sitting on the bench. And believe me no is going to adjust to our 12 yards off the WR approach except to go on the attack. But we keep going out every week thinking it will work. And we haven’t always played zone Blitzburgh was all about don’t worry you only have to cover for about 3 seconds tops. Where and what have you been watching.
I hear you guys but playing Boykin is not the be all end all solution for the Defensive Secondary. Playing 2 styles of Secondary Coverage is an option. What that means you play 1 style of Coverage for teams with grouping of WR’s such as Denver or when you play the Pats and use another style for others. Fixing the CB spot is top priority, well at least to us as fans it’s a top priority but maybe not to the Steelers.
Boykin isn’t the be all end all at all but he has proven that the secondary is better when he’s in there. I agree CB should be a top priority but as you said do the Steelers agree?