Home Steelers 2015 Season Analyzing The Steelers’ D When It Works and When It Doesn’t

Analyzing The Steelers’ D When It Works and When It Doesn’t

by Steeldad

At some point, the Pittsburgh Steelers pass defense is either going to make or break this team. Some could argue it has already done so in several games this season and I wouldn’t offer much of an argument. For every big play the Steelers give up via the pass, they have a sack or turnover to retort it.

The Steelers statistically are quite interesting. They rank 27th in the NFL against the pass where they give up just over 278 yards per game. The rub here is that when teams give up a lot of pass yards in the NFL it usually means they have forced offenses to become one-dimensional and that’s what the Steelers have done by and large.

They currently rank fifth in the NFL giving up just 93 yards per game. Making opposing offenses one-dimensional was a staple of Dick LeBeau’s defense and Keith Butler has clearly followed this plan. The problem as I see it is that the discrepancy between the run and pass numbers is much greater than we are typically accustomed.

The secondary has already been burned eight times this year by pass plays of 40 yards or more. That ranks fifth in the NFL. They also see opposing quarterbacks complete passes at a clip of 67% which is fifth-worst in the league. Those same QBs have an average passer rating of 94 which is 13th in the NFL.

The flip-side to the defenses’ struggles against the pass is that they rank fourth in the NFL in sacks with 29 and they also rank sixth in turnover differential with a +5 standing.

It’s no secret as to what makes success for this version of the Steelers’ defense. If they get pressure and create turnovers that goes a long way towards a victory. In the Steelers’ four losses they’ve turned the ball over seven times and created only four. In the Steelers’ six victories the defense has forced 15 turnovers while the offense has committed just six.

This is winning football 101. You sack the QB and create significantly more turnovers than you’re offense commits and you should in fact be over .500. Why then do we feel like this secondary couldn’t cover a Rolling Stones’ song if you spotted them Mick and Keith?

We have to realize the Steelers want their cornerbacks to be able to do certain things and if you can’t do them consistently you don’t play. Chances are, you’ve heard of “tackle the catch” before. The simplest way to explain the strategy is this… You expect your pass rush to get to the QB fast enough to disrupt his timing and his throws. Therefore, the defensive backs’ job is to keep the receiver in front of him and if he catches the ball he is to be tackled with little to no ‘yards after the catch.’

This scheme works great when two things are happening. The first is that the defense is shutting down the run and the second is that the pass rush is making life difficult for the passer. If either of those two things aren’t working then the Steelers’ secondary is likely in for a long day.

Take the win over Oakland for example. Raiders’ QB Derek Carr was not sacked once all day. He threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception and led the team to five scoring drives. Despite going just 24 for 44, Carr got help staying on his feet by a running game that had success against the Steelers. On just 25 carries, the Raiders tallied 139 yards to average almost six yards per carry.

What was the ultimate difference? Turnovers. The Raiders committed four while the Steelers just two.

One question I often get is “So why is it that it looks like the Steelers are leaving guys wide open all the time?” I’ll give you three reasons. First, I don’t care how good your defensive backs are if there isn’t any pass rush on a given play then QBs will find open receivers. Johnny Manziel actually did this pretty well Sunday.

Secondly, because Butler is more aggressive (which I love by the way), that tends to put linebackers on receivers they might not otherwise be tasked with covering. This is due to Butler bringing a corner or safety on a blitz. As fast as Ryan Shazier is, even he can’t hang with NFL wideouts. Lastly and most importantly, the Steelers just don’t have good cover guys.

You can love Antwon Blake all you want to but he just can’t cover a guy one on one with what I would call any sort of consistency. Sure, he’s in position at times but he has ball skills that rank right up there with Cortez Allen. I would say the same goes for Ross Cockrell as well. While their ineptitude often drives us crazy, they “fit the system” as ‘tackle the catch’ style corners. That’s why Mike Tomlin continues to stick with them.

If the Steelers are going to make the playoffs, the defense’s current trend must continue. If they aren’t going to consistently stop opposing passing attacks then they must get turnovers and they must get timely sacks. Easier said than done to be sure but through the first 10 games they are keeping their heads above water.

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2 comments

ron November 18, 2015 - 8:48 pm

Nice analysis. I appreciate this kind of commentary, make sense, excellent observation. Let’s go back to Boykin. How is he the same kind of back as Blake, Allen, etc. Or how is he different. What could he bring to the game or where dies he fall short?

steeldad November 19, 2015 - 12:31 am

Thanks for the kind words Ron. We could bore you with all kinds of terminology but we find this approach usually works better. As for Boykin, we’ve been major supporters of his since day one. Basically the Steelers panicked and traded for him despite not really being their type of CB. He is a much better man-cover guy and the Steelers prefer guys that play better in zone or zone man combinations. Still, we don’t understand why Boykin isn’t utilized more. He is clearly better than Blake or Allen but just doesn’t fit the system. Had Cockrell come available before they would have never traded for Boykin.

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