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A hungry Dog will find a way to eat. McClendon's body transformation and dedication to learning his trade over the years shows me he is hungry. I will put my money on those players to succeed. Time for him to eat.
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I agree, and the key is and always has been pressure. Pressure creates turnovers from quick poor decisions. Pressure creates field position. And most importantly pressure lowers the other teams chances to score. Our front 7 determine much of that, hence all the money invested into the front 7.Trolls are people too.Comment
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Last year's defensive stats:
Defensive YPG - Steelers finished first by a whopping 15 YPG. Denver, San Fran, Seattle, Chicago round out the top 5
Defensive PPG - Seattle (by far), San Fran, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta top 5. Steelers finished 6.
Defensive turnovers - Chicago (44), New England (41), Giants (35), Arizona (33), Atlanta and Seattle (31)...........way down the list Steelers (20)
So, if you simply judge using the Steelers as reference, you have a team that gives up few yards, few points, but got no turnovers and missed the playoffs. However, using some other teams you see that Denver and San Fran had strong Ds when it came to scoring and yards but, like the Steelers, were unable to get the turnovers (24 and 25 respectively). They still had strong playoff years, however, you can also state that it was the inability to create some easy turnovers that led directly to Denver's loss to the Ravens.
So the verdict is.........inconclusive!!
That being said, I believe that the biggest key is something that is not in these stats, and that is timing. Like most sports, the key is to make the big play at the right time.Comment
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Correlation is deceptive. There are so many factors that go into a W or a L. What if an O is ineffective? Or the D is shut down for 3 quarters only to fall apart when it matters? There are so many scenerios that play into a winning or losing ball club.
For D, I truly believe in a pass first high scoring league you MUST be able to get consistent pressure. Yes, you will give up more big plays. But, you also make more big plays. You must get another team out of their game...and you only do that by getting in the QBs face.Last edited by Shawn; 06-06-2013, 03:22 PM.Trolls are people too.Comment
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Factor in we were tied for 15th in sacks with 37 and that will tell you why we don't get turnovers. It all starts with attacking the QB and we haven't done that very well for 2-3 years.Last year's defensive stats:
Defensive YPG - Steelers finished first by a whopping 15 YPG. Denver, San Fran, Seattle, Chicago round out the top 5
Defensive PPG - Seattle (by far), San Fran, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta top 5. Steelers finished 6.
Defensive turnovers - Chicago (44), New England (41), Giants (35), Arizona (33), Atlanta and Seattle (31)...........way down the list Steelers (20)
So, if you simply judge using the Steelers as reference, you have a team that gives up few yards, few points, but got no turnovers and missed the playoffs. However, using some other teams you see that Denver and San Fran had strong Ds when it came to scoring and yards but, like the Steelers, were unable to get the turnovers (24 and 25 respectively). They still had strong playoff years, however, you can also state that it was the inability to create some easy turnovers that led directly to Denver's loss to the Ravens.
So the verdict is.........inconclusive!!
That being said, I believe that the biggest key is something that is not in these stats, and that is timing. Like most sports, the key is to make the big play at the right time."My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"Comment
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"Consistent pressure" is the key and when you are predictable and the opponents know exactly who is going to rush the QB then you aren't going to get consistent pressure.
Even Carson Palmer said after the Raiders game he knew exactly what we were doing on defense. You don't think everyone else did too?"My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"Comment
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In the 4-3, don't you always know who is rushing the QB?
The biggest problem with pressure is guys not winning their individual matchups. Dick Lebeau can scheme to get Woodley one-on-one with a TE or a RT; he can't actually make Woodley get pressure - that needs to come from him.
The problem is not the scheme, the problem is the lack of execution. That needs to come from the players.Comment
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Actually, my post was NOT about you...but, if the shoe fits, feel free to lace that &!+€# up and wear it.Comment
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Don't turn the ball over 8 times on offense and we win the cleveland game easy. Score more points on sorry teams and we win 11. Blaming it all on one side of the ball is short sighted. I agree we relied too much on some aging players, but those backups need to step up when called on and they didn't do that.
I still think that the biggest problem was coaching, particularly on the offensive line. It just seems strange that the coach goes from one team to another and the injury problems follow him. It really comes down to technique and our offensive line had terrible technique for the past few years.
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Being great is McLendon's goal
Teresa Varley
Steelers.com
Steve McLendon doesn’t just want to be a good football player, he wants to be great. And he realizes he isn’t going to get to where he wants to be without putting in hard work. It’s one of the reasons he was a fixture in the Steelers weight room all offseason, always working on his strength, always striving to improve, always doing whatever he can to help the team get better.
“I am going towards greatness and there is only one way to get there, through hard work and dedication,” said McLendon. “If we all can accomplish that, we are going to be great together. Sometimes you have to do things yourself to help everyone get better.”
He knows it’s going to take more than just hitting the weights to get there. If he wants to step in to the nose tackle position that Casey Hampton has not just held down since 2001, but has excelled at, he is going to have to do something special. With the opportunity staring him in the face to start after Hampton was not re-signed, he is doing everything in his power to make sure he isn’t able to just handle the job, but excel at it like Hampton did.
“If you want to be great at what you do, you have to look at what is making other athletes great at their sport,” said McLendon. “If you can take something from every sport and apply it to your sport, it’s going to make you a better player.”
He has backed up those words with actions. McLendon has fearlessly dabbled in trying some aspect of just about every sport, from baseball to ballet, karate to swimming, to make him a better player.
McLendon has worked with Chip Smith from CES Performance in Atlanta, pulling in something from various sports. He utilized standing at a batting cage to work on eye coordination, while at the same time clearly realizing he would never want to be standing at the plate with a 90-mile an hour fast ball coming at him.
“I think baseball is the scariest sport ever,” said McLendon. “I have a lot of respect for those guys. I take my hat off to them. I got in the batting cage, well close to it, and was watching the ball coming. I thought how do these guys even see this ball?
“That is how I learned the eye coordination, though. By the time the ball is released, they know when the ball is going to get there. If I can learn to watch the ball it will slow the game down for me. You can see when the pitcher is going to grip the ball and his throw and windup. It’s the same with a center. You see him grip the ball, his windup is the snap. If I can catch his hand and am able to attack him, it will make me that much quicker and better applying pressure to the quarterback, running back and the offensive line.”
Karate has always been a part of McLendon’s regime, ever since he was a kid and his father, a second-degree black belt, used it to help in his development.
“It’s all about discipline,” said McLendon. “My dad used to make me sit in splits for maybe 30 minutes long as discipline. It was so long. I think back on it and I am glad he did those things. He taught me discipline. He took the violence out of it and used it for discipline. You could use it to protect, but only when being harmed.”
McLendon has used basketball drills to work on explosion, which will ultimately help coming out of his stance and being able to turn either way. He has utilized swimming to improve opening his lungs and his breathing. And yes, this 6-4, 280-pound, defensive lineman has done ballet.
“It helps you strengthen the muscles in your toes, your feet and ankles, calves, knees, quad and hamstring,” said McLendon. “It’s full body. It’s extremely hard. I have seen a lot of greats do it. If those greats did it, if I want to be great I have to do a lot of the things they did. That’s how I picked up on ballet.
“Once I tried it, I liked it. I liked how it felt. You can see it on the field. You are doing so much it helps with preventing injuries. I did it my senior year in college and saw the difference and thought it’s time to get back in to it. Most people don’t look at a guy my size taking ballet, but if you want to achieve greatness, you will do whatever it takes to be great.”
[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Being-great-is-McLendons-goal/041a47cd-33c2-4dec-a83d-9d0c49b90866[/URL]Comment
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