Tackle the catch? Seahawks dominated that way

[feltdizz]

We will have to agree to disagree on that.

Many of you are missing the many complexities of football when you sit & watch a game. There is allot more than run or pass the ball into the endzone & try to stop them going on.

When Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, & Byron Maxewell/Walter Thurmond stay of the field when offenses trot out 21,12, & even 11 personnel...That is ZERO indication of what the front 7 brings to the defense. That is TOTAL confidence in your secondary & LBs can play Cover 1 & Cover 0. That leaves your base guys of Irvin, Wagner, Smith, Bryant, McDaniel, Mebane, & Clemons on the field. That means the offense personnel packages did not dictate your defense & you could play down & distance football. That means the strategic planning of trying to spread them out so you could run just worked in the defenses advantage if you want to run. If you try & pass and test that secondary & LB in coverage...You face a minimum of 4 DL pass rushers. If the DC has great confidence in that secondary, which Dan Quinn does, you send 2 LBs with those 4 DL & force 3 step drops. If the QB tries to go to a 5 step drop & hold the ball he will face pressure up the middle & make errant throws off his back foot. It is a great recipe for a great defense. Only capable with a talented secondary like the Seahawks.

If you would have put Clark, Polamalu, Taylor, & Gay/Allen behind the front 7 in the SB...Manning would have thrown for 5 TDs if the Hawks stayed with the philosophy. Here's the kicker...The Steelers front 7 playing in front of that secondary would have produced similar results to what you saw on SB Sunday. Its like a balance scale in todays NFL. If you compensate one direction for weakness you pay on the other side. The closer you get to balance in base the more productive your defense will be. Right now...Our bigger weakness is in the backend because of age & lack of speed. It was exploited early in the year especially when the Steelers tried to play cover 1 against Brady. The Steelers compensated by going to nickel against offensive personnel groupings (When they shouldn't have to) but that made the defense more suspect to the run...Which was also exploited.

The solution is obvious but not so simple with limited draft possibilities & salary cap. For the starting front 7...Retain Worilds & Hood. Step 1 would be 2 new faces in the secondary at FS & CB. That would improve the 2013 front 7 alone. FA or Draft..Has to be the focus. You do that & plug in a true NT & answer the questions at the ILB opposite Timmons....You could see a defense VERY similar to the Hawks defense running around Hines Field in Black & Gold. The question isn't what to do....But how to do it as it relates to FA ,Draft, or rostered player. If anything, we could all agree that a new face at FS, CB, & NT will be filled in FA/Draft.The ILB spot can't be answered by us because we don't know what they feel about Spence...If they feel Foote is in their plans for 2014...Or if they feel Williams is the answer. I think that answer will come at draft by whom the do or do not pick.

Peyton was 19 0f 26 for 243 yards with 2 TD's vs Steelers in Denver in 2012.

No way he throws for 5 against us with the Seattle pass rush. He would've had a little more success but not much.

[NorthCoast]

Peyton was 19 0f 26 for 243 yards with 2 TD's vs Steelers in Denver in 2012.

No way he throws for 5 against us with the Seattle pass rush. He would've had a little more success but not much.

Woodley has been non-existent 3 yrs running... Harrison was hurt early last year. Pass rush has been pathetic for 3 yrs straight. The only bright spot has been Heyward and an occasional McClendon.
I believe Avril is a FA this year.... maybe the Steelers make an offer? Make a great defense weaker while improving their own....

[Slapstick]

Avril has one more year with Seattle...

[Oviedo]

Woodley has been non-existent 3 yrs running... Harrison was hurt early last year. Pass rush has been pathetic for 3 yrs straight. The only bright spot has been Heyward and an occasional McClendon.
I believe Avril is a FA this year.... maybe the Steelers make an offer? Make a great defense weaker while improving their own....

The Steelers have no money for a player like Avril (I don't think he is a FA) even though that is exactly what they need.

[phillyesq]

I hate to even think about Avril. The Steelers had him in for a pre-draft visit, and he was on the board in the third when their selection came up. And they drafted Bruce Davis.

[papillon]

I hate to even think about Avril. The Steelers had him in for a pre-draft visit, and he was on the board in the third when their selection came up. And they drafted Bruce Davis.

I'm assuming you think the Steelers missed on that pick?

Pappy

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Peyton was 19 0f 26 for 243 yards with 2 TD's vs Steelers in Denver in 2012.

No way he throws for 5 against us with the Seattle pass rush. He would've had a little more success but not much.

And I will agree with you that the Steelers 2012 secondary wouldn't allow Manning to throw for 5....But you can't turn back the clock on players. Without a doubt Manning would have lit the 2013 secondary up! He would have been able to get off from his 3 step drops because the Steelers have to play off man Cover 2.

Our 2012 secondary of Polamalu, Clark, Taylor, & Lewis was one of the best we have seen as of late. Clark, Polamalu, & Taylor looked ageless in 2012....But what a difference a year makes! Clark didn't play that game...Mundy started. The Steelers played "keep away" that game...Don't you remember the Steelers held the ball for like 11 minutes longer? Manning only attempted 26 passes in that game because the Steelers O kept him off the field. The Steelers were in it until the pick 6 by Porter.

Again, No need to speculate...We played the Patriots THIS year and Brady pile up 4 TDs on this secondary. You remember that game don't you? The game where three players went over 100 yards receiving for the Pats. Btw...The Steelers had 3 sacks that game. Can't cut it, slice it, flavor that any way but bad secondary. The Steelers even tried to put Troy in Cover 1 and Brady looked one way & passed back the other. Troy had NO range to cover both sidelines. It was after that game where DL started to find a way to keep Troy on the field & play to his strengths in pass coverage. Which is 15 yards off the LOS in LB drop zones where he could use his instincts and short area burst to make plays. They went Cover 2 behind it with Clark & W Allen.

You guys are all screaming Hawks pass rush makes the secondary look good. That isn't the case. They are very balanced...that makes them so good. The impact is secondary to front 7 hands down. The Seahawks were 8th overall in sacks this year with 44. The Steelers were 25th with 34. The Hawks had only had 4 sacks all post season. You know what the did lead in through the post season? The lead in INTs & PDEF. They doubled the other teams that played 3 games in PDEfs. The Hawks were 5th overall in the regular season with 114 PDEfs. 1st place team had 120 PDEFs. The Steelers were 20th with 82. Here's the hammer that squashes it all. Hawks were 1st in INTs with 28. The Steelers forgot the season started & came in 29th with 10. Hawks 1st in TO at 39...Steelers 29th at 20. The Hawks are a big play defense with the splash plays coming in the secondary. Once upon a time...So were the Steelers. The Steelers have been lacking for several years...because they got old & slow in the back end.

Bang the table all you want about fixing the front 7 will help this secondary...That isn't the case. We aren't talking about building a 3-4 defense from scratch. Evaluating whats here & what we need to turn the corner. When you secondary averages 32 years old & your front 7 averages 25 years old....That's a Red Flag. Can't fix Father Time!

[feltdizz]

Sorry JPN.. I disagree.

Great article that gives good info on how good and versatile this front 7 is...
[url]http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/12/6/5181238/seattle-seahawks-defense-nfc-breakdown[/url]

Also have to account for QB pressures..it's much easier to defend passes when the QB can't step into throws and is running for his life.

[Oviedo]

And I will agree with you that the Steelers 2012 secondary wouldn't allow Manning to throw for 5....But you can't turn back the clock on players. Without a doubt Manning would have lit the 2013 secondary up! He would have been able to get off from his 3 step drops because the Steelers have to play off man Cover 2.

Our 2012 secondary of Polamalu, Clark, Taylor, & Lewis was one of the best we have seen as of late. Clark, Polamalu, & Taylor looked ageless in 2012....But what a difference a year makes! Clark didn't play that game...Mundy started. The Steelers played "keep away" that game...Don't you remember the Steelers held the ball for like 11 minutes longer? Manning only attempted 26 passes in that game because the Steelers O kept him off the field. The Steelers were in it until the pick 6 by Porter.

Again, No need to speculate...We played the Patriots THIS year and Brady pile up 4 TDs on this secondary. You remember that game don't you? The game where three players went over 100 yards receiving for the Pats. Btw...The Steelers had 3 sacks that game. Can't cut it, slice it, flavor that any way but bad secondary. The Steelers even tried to put Troy in Cover 1 and Brady looked one way & passed back the other. Troy had NO range to cover both sidelines. It was after that game where DL started to find a way to keep Troy on the field & play to his strengths in pass coverage. Which is 15 yards off the LOS in LB drop zones where he could use his instincts and short area burst to make plays. They went Cover 2 behind it with Clark & W Allen.

You guys are all screaming Hawks pass rush makes the secondary look good. That isn't the case. They are very balanced...that makes them so good. The impact is secondary to front 7 hands down. The Seahawks were 8th overall in sacks this year with 44. The Steelers were 25th with 34. The Hawks had only had 4 sacks all post season. You know what the did lead in through the post season? The lead in INTs & PDEF. They doubled the other teams that played 3 games in PDEfs. The Hawks were 5th overall in the regular season with 114 PDEfs. 1st place team had 120 PDEFs. The Steelers were 20th with 82. Here's the hammer that squashes it all. Hawks were 1st in INTs with 28. The Steelers forgot the season started & came in 29th with 10. Hawks 1st in TO at 39...Steelers 29th at 20. The Hawks are a big play defense with the splash plays coming in the secondary. Once upon a time...So were the Steelers. The Steelers have been lacking for several years...because they got old & slow in the back end.

Bang the table all you want about fixing the front 7 will help this secondary...That isn't the case. We aren't talking about building a 3-4 defense from scratch. Evaluating whats here & what we need to turn the corner. When you secondary averages 32 years old & your front 7 averages 25 years old....That's a Red Flag. Can't fix Father Time!

I'd prefer CB or even Safety over Def Line in this draft. Our secondary is not good...bottom line. Our FS is gone. Our SS plays LB half the time. Both our CBs are inconsistent. If we go defnse at #15 we need to pay attention to the back end of the defense. We can get a NT later.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Sorry JPN.. I disagree.

Great article that gives good info on how good and versatile this front 7 is...

[URL="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/12/6/5181238/seattle-seahawks-defense-nfc-breakdown"]http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/12/6/5181238/seattle-seahawks-defense-nfc-breakdown[/URL]

Also have to account for QB pressures..it's much easier to defend passes when the QB can't step into throws and is running for his life.

Well we could agree to disagree....But the link you used to help your argument supports mine.

It was a combination of things. [URL="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/9/20/4747480/richard-sherman-nfl-darelle-revis-seahawks-cornerback"]The Seahawks' well-known secondary[/URL] certainly did their part to limit Brees and the Saints' explosive passing game, but with a well-rounded and resourceful offense like that of New Orleans, you really need a solid effort from every positional group on the defense to throw a wrench in the Saints' gears. Seattle's versatile front seven played a huge role in this. Basically, with Brees unable to pass deep against [URL="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/131657/richard-sherman"]Richard Sherman[/URL], [URL="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/108652/earl-thomas"]Earl Thomas[/URL], and the rest of secondary with much effectiveness, Sean Payton and the Saints turned to their trusty intermediate and short passing game. Seattle's linebacking corps and defensive line completely shut that down as well.