Do you know the old saying about excuses? You know, the one about comparing excuses to a part of human anatomy? That’s where the Steelers’ defense is right now. They are making excuses over their second half meltdown on Sunday instead of just admitting they got beat.
Trailing 27-3 at the half, the Browns went to the hurry-up offense. No problem though because Steelers’ defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau has been around this game longer than many of us have been alive. As Cleveland drove down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter, we all expected LeBeau would have the answers.
The truth is, he didn’t and I don’t entirely fault him but because he leads the unit, he gets the brunt of the blame. Could the offense have helped the situation? Absolutely. Coming out after the Browns scored to make it 27-10, they went run, run pass punt (in the traditional huddle mind you) and the defense was right back on the field.
This is about the defense however and the excuses I’ve already heard this week.
“We got on our heels and never seemed to recover,” Brett Keisel said.
Isn’t this the guy who was brought back to make sure this type of thing didn’t happen?
“Sometimes, we just don’t make stuff easy, but we always come through,” cornerback Ike Taylor said. “We have to understand that we have to play at a high level for four quarters. Not two, but four.”
How did you not know you had to play for two quarters and not four? How many years has Taylor been in the league?
“We started to lack some energy, but we have to fight through that,” Cam Heyward said.
How can you lack energy? It’s the first game of the season. You have a huge lead and you should be looking for the knockout blow.
“We have issues dealing with an up-tempo pace from a communication standpoint,” Mike Tomlin said. “The big thing is, whatever is called we have to communicate. Communication is integral to execution. I thought we could have communicated better. I thought we could have executed better.”
C’mon coach! Your defense went up against an offense in training camp that runs a no-huddle (supposedly) and your defense is having trouble communicating?
The excuses this defense is providing sound like those coming from an expansion team still working the bugs out. Stop the blame game and take responsibility. You got out-coached on both offense and defense in the second half and were lucky to hang on for the victory.
I would expect a much better job on Thursday night or you’ll have more than excuses to worry about.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on Trib-Live Radio
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2 comments
Sure the D has seen there own No-Huddle Offense, but here is the reality you only show small tidbits of it in practice. So there is no question that the D needs to get better but can you people be patient? How many times did fans whine and complain that the D needed to get younger? They did just that but you guys want a quick turnaround and I’m sorry that doesn’t exist. As a rookie in the NFL you are told to know at least 50% of the playbook no matter if your playing Offense or Defense. By the 2nd year the players would have at least some understanding of there playbook but not fully grasp it yet. I keep saying this but you people obviously wish to ignore so I’ll put in big letters so that you people can understand: “IT’S GOING TO TAKE TIME FOR THE D TO GELL AS A UNIT”. Be Patient or don’t watch the D when there on the field, listen to the play-by-play of the D on the radio and come back when the Offense takes the field. Can you people do that.
I’ve been pretty critical of Lebeau. I’ve wanted him to move on for a couple years now, but I can’t put that second half on him.
If the first defender to the ball makes the tackle in that second half, that comeback never happens. Missed tackles caused them to get run all over, which opened up the play action.