It’s not often you can find fault with a 34-6 road victory but I can’t take my mind off of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ run defense which was gashed by the Houston Texans at will. The Steelers surrendered 176 yards on the ground including 108 to Alfred Blue. The Texans were actually their own worst enemy in this game because they threw the ball way more than they needed.
The greatest piece of evidence came when Houston marched down the field on the ground looking to cut into a 10-0 deficit in the second quarter. On third and fourth down inside the Steelers’ two yard line Bill O’Brien for some ungodly reason called two straight passes. One was incomplete and the fourth down throw was picked off in the end zone by Artie Burns.
Pittsburgh would go 80 yards for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead. It was the turning point of the game and the Steelers can thank the Houston head coach for it going their way. Perhaps more alarming than the 176 rushing yards surrendered was the 6.3 yards per carry average. That’s way too much against any team let alone one who couldn’t throw it for their lives in this game.
The obvious reason for the run defense’s woes is the loss of Ryan Shazier. Sean Spence has played better in each of his games since rejoining the Steelers but he is inconsistent in his tackling and he struggles to get off blocks. Vince Williams has done everything asked of him and no one gets more out of himself than Williams but he too has to get to the ball carrier sooner.
As I stated in the open, it’s hard to find fault with a win like this but all those yards on the ground are a major concern. Many fans will point to the turnovers and seven sacks and those most certainly cannot be denied. But if Houston can run the ball like this what will Jacksonville or Baltimore be able to do in the postseason?
The run D needs to be fixed now before it’s too late.
8 comments
i like it when the steelers win on the road
I’ve been saying this exact same thing since Ryan got hurt it has been painfully obvious that this is now there new BIG problem on D. Totally agree with this post, it needs to be fix before post-season or the steelers are toast.
Even when the Steelers were a “good” not “great” defense they were still not giving up this kind of yardage on the ground. It puts even more pressure on our offense to score TDs because opponents can control the ball and the clock.
Last 4 games Steelers giving up average of 133ypg rushing. Previous six games they were surrendering just 62ypg.
[…] run defense scares the crap out of me. They gave up 176 yards on the ground to […]
There are a few problems with the run D. First all the miss tackles behind the line. Hargraves has to make a few plays, There’s no safety help. All these things have been there, Shazier covered a few of them up. But Shazier has also missed his share of tackles. The keys to us advancing are. Limit penalties, NO THREE AND OUTS ON OFFENSE, And while i’m being an armchair coach, think about this. Using Brian Allen over the top to double Gronk.
When it comes to Gronk, He is BIG powerful and has great hands we all know that, but he is not the fastest guy on the field, and you know where Brady is going to be going to when they NEED to make the big plays.
Look at what they did on the 2 minute drive to Pittsburgh, to put them a head, throw one- Gronk, Throw two-Gronk, Throw three-Gronk…Touchdown to WHO?! Gronk… 73 yards in less then a minute all to Gronk.
So my point? after watching that game it was painfully clear the Steelers have major problems covering Gronk, BUT they know his general slant routes and if they could find a way to intercept the ball before it even gets to him game over. Gronk is the Pats only big threat (other then Brady) on offense and if you take that or at least limit that option they are toast. Dolphins beats the pats because Gronk wasn’t playing, plain and simple.
So now that we covered that point, how do you do what I propose? not that it would be an easy task, but they are already double coving him right? so have one defender stay right on him like normal and have your second back in front disguised as a lone defender then close in on the ball that’s it, his only job would be to read the play and go for the ball every time, not make tackles or try and get in Gronks face, until after the ball would get to its target, but go after the ball over and over again, and after you are successful in a few of these plays they will be less likely to throw the ball his way and then the game is all Steelers.
Look at what the 49ers did to the Jags, they were picking off throws left and right putting them selves in position to make plays on the ball not just making tackles, being proactive instead of reactive that is what Pittsburgh’s Defense needs to get better at.
You have to look at Gronk like a basketball player. It doesn’t matter if you have 2 guards going for the rebound the 7 footer is going to get it any ways. That’s the reason i said play Allen over the top. He’s the only DB we have that can come close to matching up size wise.