A stat that puzzle me about DL the great...

[Steelhere10]

Woodley only rushed the passer 4 times in the second half. Posted on Black n Gold radio. Don't shoot me shoot the messenger .

[RuthlessBurgher]

Woodley only rushed the passer 4 times in the second half. Posted on Black n Gold radio. Don't shoot me shoot the messenger .

In the 3rd quarter, the Broncos only had the ball one time, and the scoring drive took all of 2 plays (the WR screen Thomas ran 71 yards for a TD).

In the 4th quarter, they had a 10 play TD drive featuring 7 passes and 3 runs, a 12 play FG drive featuring 3 passes, 8 runs, and the FG kick, and then the final Denver possession was in victory formation in which Manning kneeled down twice.

There aren't a lot of opportunities to rush the passer in the 2nd half when your opponent has a 2 play drive, one pass-heavy drive, one run-heavy drive, and a couple of kneel downs and that's it. Plus, every one of Peyton's passes in the 2nd half were classified as short passes (i.e. get it out of my hands quick to negate the pass rush). In fact, in the entire game Peyton only attempted 2 passes that were deemed to be deep throw (an incompletion in the first quarter on 3rd and 17, and a 20 yard completion to Thomas on 1st and 10 in the 2nd quarter. After getting sacked twice early on, it looks like Peyton was doing whatever he could to get the ball out of his hands quick.

[hawaiiansteel]

Woodley only rushed the passer 4 times in the second half. Posted on Black n Gold radio. Don't shoot me shoot the messenger .

I read somewhere that Woodley was in pass coverage 17 of the 26 times that Peyton went back to pass.

it's hard to get to the QB when you're mostly dropping into coverage...

[SDSteel1]

In the 3rd quarter, the Broncos only had the ball one time, and the scoring drive took all of 2 plays (the WR screen Thomas ran 71 yards for a TD).

In the 4th quarter, they had a 10 play TD drive featuring 7 passes and 3 runs, a 12 play FG drive featuring 3 passes, 8 runs, and the FG kick, and then the final Denver possession was in victory formation in which Manning kneeled down twice.

There aren't a lot of opportunities to rush the passer in the 2nd half when your opponent has a 2 play drive, one pass-heavy drive, one run-heavy drive, and a couple of kneel downs and that's it. Plus, every one of Peyton's passes in the 2nd half were classified as short passes (i.e. get it out of my hands quick to negate the pass rush). In fact, in the entire game Peyton only attempted 2 passes that were deemed to be deep throw (an incompletion in the first quarter on 3rd and 17, and a 20 yard completion to Thomas on 1st and 10 in the 2nd quarter. After getting sacked twice early on, it looks like Peyton was doing whatever he could to get the ball out of his hands quick.

The problem is there are only 5 eligible receivers to cover, we have 4 DBs and 4 LBs, and Wood is the biggest and arguably the slowest in coverage. His strength is rushing the passer. Although we try to be sneaky by rushing different personnel, obviously offenses have picked up on what Woods responsibilities are and taking advantage of keeping him out of the backfield. Lebeau needs to recognize this and adjust the scheme.

[birtikidis]

I saw a few more db blitzes than normal. Manning gets rid of the ball quickly, into the short zone. Underneath coverage is key. That's why our lbs dropped more.

[SDSteel1]

I saw a few more db blitzes than normal. Manning gets rid of the ball quickly, into the short zone. Underneath coverage is key. That's why our lbs dropped more.

Well maybe we should be rolling Foot over there, or pulling a safety up into that zone and let Wood do what he does best.

[Oviedo]

I read somewhere that Woodley was in pass coverage 17 of the 26 times that Peyton went back to pass.

it's hard to get to the QB when you're mostly dropping into coverage...

That's because offenses have figured out our defense and know that if you leak a receiver into those areas, Woodley and Harrison will drop into coverage and you only have to deal with a three man rush who are taught to impede the OL first on a stop the run first read and only secondarily go after the QB

You need more ILB, CB or Safety blitzes to counter that. For whatever reason we have done less of those the past few seasons.

[Oviedo]

Well maybe we should be rolling Foot over there, or pulling a safety up into that zone and let Wood do what he does best.

How about doing like Clay Matthews does and move Woodley around from left to right to in the middle so you have more difficult time setting up your protection. It got Matthews 3.5 sacks last night. Sorry, silly me it isn't part of the defensive template.

[Slapstick]

Since the 70s, how many Super Bowls have the Steelers been to without LeBeau calling the defense?

0

Even in XXX, it was LeBeau calling the D...

But, you're right...he's too predictable, teams have figured him out...the game has passed him by...

[phillyesq]

How about doing like Clay Matthews does and move Woodley around from left to right to in the middle so you have more difficult time setting up your protection. It got Matthews 3.5 sacks last night. Sorry, silly me it isn't part of the defensive template.

Though we obviously disagree about Lebeau, I do agree with you on this one. I would like to see the pass rushers deployed from different places more often. DL does move Harrison around, but not Woodley. I'm not entirely sure why.

When both are back, I'd like to see some packages with both rushing from the same side, or even this week, with Woodley and Worilds on the same side.