Pittsburgh Steelers Change Defensive Philosophy

[Shawn]

Shawn, I think the idea is, in this defensive philosophy, that you have your secondary playing deep to eliminate the long stuff. That kinda forces the offense to throw short. So, you drop your LB's and try to clog the throwing lanes and hope the QB rushes his read a makes a bad throw into traffic. The problem has been (recently), we've allowed the QB too much time to improvise because of lack of pressure from whomever is the designated blitzer. Generally, at least one LB is tasked with rushing along with the DL. I guess I can see some merit in getting the ends to attack the QB more on obvious passing situations, but they can be burnt on draw type plays too. (<<<<---- think Ray Rice here.)

I agree Jooser. And that is the philosophy I'm talking about. Tighten up coverage..more bump using our physical corners...disrupting timing. Using our pass rusher to actually rush the passer. Taking more chances.

Has anyone considered part of the reason the Steelers are not getting turnovers is the fact that they dont force decisions and disrupt timing when they play off with their DBs and drop guys like Woodley into coverage?

[Captain QB]

I agree Jooser. And that is the philosophy I'm talking about. Tighten up coverage..more bump using our physical corners...disrupting timing. Using our pass rusher to actually rush the passer. Taking more chances.

Has anyone considered part of the reason the Steelers are not getting turnovers is the fact that they dont force decisions and disrupt timing when they play off with their DBs and drop guys like Woodley into coverage?

I have. The reason they aren't getting turnovers and pressuring QBs is because they're "tackling the catch" and just hoping that eventually the other team will make a mistake.

[Slapstick]

Both Shawn and Crash are right in this instance...

As is Lemming, as well...

The Steelers have always played off with their DBs and dropped guys like Woodley into coverage...remember the longest INT return in SB history?

The difference last year was that the pass rush was ineffective because the players were hurt, out-of-shape, whatever...

With Troy, Woodley and Harrison being damaged goods last year, the defense, while disciplined (for the most part) and well coached, didn't have the horses to force decisions and disrupt timing as they did in ears past...

[ikestops85]

Both Shawn and Crash are right in this instance...

As is Lemming, as well...

The Steelers have always played off with their DBs and dropped guys like Woodley into coverage...remember the longest INT return in SB history?

The difference last year was that the pass rush was ineffective because the players were hurt, out-of-shape, whatever...

With Troy, Woodley and Harrison being damaged goods last year, the defense, while disciplined (for the most part) and well coached, didn't have the horses to force decisions and disrupt timing as they did in ears past...

Exactly Slapstick! Our defense is predicated on pressuring the QB but let me add we have always pressured without sending the house. We pressure normally with 4 or 5 but the opponent doesn't know which 4 or 5. The last couple of years we haven't been able to do that consistently. LeBeau has tried to adjust by playing more press coverage instead of the zone. Sometimes it has been successful and sometimes it hasn't. He has also gone to more full-out blitzes but we still couldn't pressure the QB consistently when we did that.

Without that pressure our turnover margin has gone to hell. It doesn't help that many of our defensive backs couldn't catch a cold. It also doesn't help that our DBs, when matched up one on one, can't play the ball in the air. Instead they tend to interfere with the receiver.

So why can't we get the pressure we used to? I agree with those that say our talent level has gone downhill. Harrison has been hurt, Troy has been hurt, Woodley has been out of shape, Timmons has played many games out of position, and Ziggy isn't even a shadow of Aaron Smith. Nothing is going to be different this year if Jones and Worilds don't come through, Troy doesn't stay healthy, McLendon and Heyward don't push the middle and Woodley doesn't stay in fighting shape. We will still be a formidable defense but we won't be a dynamic defense and help our offense.

If all those things come true then look out. This defense could be magical just like the 2008 defense.

[Captain Lemming]

I agree Jooser. And that is the philosophy I'm talking about. Tighten up coverage..more bump using our physical corners...disrupting timing.

Fact is that Ike plays tighter coverage and is more physical than any corner we have had since Woodson.
Ike gave up 6 receptions in the last 7 games he played in.
How is that remotely possible when he is routinely on the opponents best receiver if he is not in tight coverage?
He SURE aint scaring QBs because of the threat of picking them off!!!

the answer:
“His physicality sets him apart from a lot of corners in this league,” receiver Antonio Brown said.

Ike gets toasted WHEN HE CREEPS UP versus the run when he respects the run game more than the passing game (examples Tebow and last year versus Houston).

Ike shuts down the opponents best receiver week in and out.

[Captain Lemming]

I have. The reason they aren't getting turnovers and pressuring QBs is because they're "tackling the catch" and just hoping that eventually the other team will make a mistake.

How did Ike allow 6 catches over the course of 7 games against the best receivers if he only "tackles the catch"?
How did Lewis lead the conference in passes defensed (by a good margin) if his job was to "tackle the catch?

[URL]http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/defense/sort/passesDefended/league/afc[/URL]

Lewis and Ike defensed 37 passes with ONE pick between them.

NO CORNER TANDEM IN THE LEAGUE defensed more passes than our corners AND IKE MISSED GAMES.

I know not every defensed pass is an easy pick but DANG THIRTY SEVEN is ridiculous.

Really people we had the tightest coverage I have seen in YEARS.

You guys are regurgitating stuff from years past, it simple was NOT the case last season

The problem is not soft coverage. It is corners who cannot catch.

Cortez has FIVE turnovers in THREE starts. It aint the system stopping our corners from turning the ball over.

[phillyesq]

Has anyone considered part of the reason the Steelers are not getting turnovers is the fact that they dont force decisions and disrupt timing when they play off with their DBs and drop guys like Woodley into coverage?

It's a 3-4, not a 5-2. If you are rushing both OLBers every play, you are rushing at least 5 every play.

And when you have Woodley unable to win any of his individual matchups last year, why not drop him into coverage?

[feltdizz]

Fact is that Ike plays tighter coverage and is more physical than any corner we have had since Woodson.
Ike gave up 6 receptions in the last 7 games he played in.
How is that remotely possible when he is routinely on the opponents best receiver if he is not in tight coverage?
He SURE aint scaring QBs because of the threat of picking them off!!!

the answer:
“His physicality sets him apart from a lot of corners in this league,” receiver Antonio Brown said.

Ike gets toasted WHEN HE CREEPS UP versus the run when he respects the run game more than the passing game (examples Tebow and last year versus Houston).

Ike shuts down the opponents best receiver week in and out.

No, not every week.

[Captain Lemming]

No, not every week.

OK Dizz, not absolutely on every snap. I never even said "every week".

"ROUTINELY", as I so clearly STATED in my post? Absolutely!

On the topic of guarding the number one receiver:
William Gay:
“Not too many guys do that,” Gay said. “Guys just want to play left or right. Ike can play right, left, slot. Wherever that No. 1 receiver goes, he's (Ike Taylor) going.”

Taylor:
“That's not for everybody,” Taylor said. “Going against the toughest (receiver) week after week, not too many people want that. There are only about three guys doing that every week.”

Come on Dizz, you are going all "absolute" on me just to disagree.



My point is that this stuff about giving up passes to make the tackle is a myth.....at least last season.

Ike gave up 6 passes in the last 7 games he played ROUTINELY defending the best receiver.

YOU WILL NEVER DO THAT giving up the catch to make the tackle.

Crash's contention is just plain false.

[feltdizz]

not trying to disagree to disagree... just remembered Ike struggling early on last year.

[steelsnis]

not trying to disagree to disagree... just remembered Ike struggling early on last year.

Ike struggled vs. Tennessee. Other than that game, tho, he was having his best season up to the point he hurt his ankle.

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers’ LeBeau said his coaching style has stayed the same

By Alan Robinson
Published: Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Dick LeBeau stays contemporary by being a contrarian.

He refuses to spend endless hours during the offseason re-educating himself on the offensive flavor of the month. Chances are what's new to the rest of the league is old news to a man who is in his 55th NFL season as a Hall of Fame player and coach.

“Basically, what was defense in the 1960s is what is defense in 2013,” LeBeau said. “Find the ball and get whoever's got it on the ground.”

He is in an innovator — the zone blitz defense that reshaped the way defense is played is his creation — but not necessarily an inventor. Inventing effectively requires starting all over again; LeBeau prefers to lean on what is proven to work, then make it better.

“Amazingly enough, we've changed almost nothing from the time we started coaching (in 1973),” LeBeau said. “It even amazes me, to be honest with you.”

Last season's copycat zone read offense? It's much like the triple option and veer offenses that swept through college football in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The pistol formation? The 49ers introduced the quarterback lined up in a short punt formation — the shotgun — in the 1960s.

And, to show how the mind of the NFL's oldest coach works — he will be 76 the day after the Steelers open the season Sept. 8 — look at how he defended the Redskins' artful dodger, Robert Griffin III, last season.

LeBeau took out some notes from the 1970s Arkansas defenses, the most successful of their time in defending the option.

“I've been looking at that and writing down notes for 30 years,” LeBeau said. “That's not new.”

What also isn't new is the Steelers' proven ability to remain an elite defense under LeBeau, no matter the season or the circumstances. In LeBeau's 11 seasons as coordinator, from 1995-96 and 2004-present, the Steelers have finished No. 1 overall five times — including the last two seasons — and No. 2 twice. They were lower than fifth only once.

LeBeau's strategy is no different from any successful coach. Find a weakness and attack. Locate the strength and find a way to defend it. And the Steelers have countless ways of doing this.

Cornerback Ike Taylor said the Steelers' playbook might contain 100 plays for defending a certain strategy. On certain plays, Taylor said LeBeau will make a double call, two different defenses. The defenders adjust to the proper defense once they see the offense line up.

To learn how to play a LeBeau defense — as linebacker Jarvis Jones and safety Shamarko Thomas currently are — players are taught certain techniques they must rely upon. There are certain rules that apply for each defense, too; a defender might not be permitted the same latitude in one defense as another.

But once the basic concepts are learned, LeBeau mostly just tweaks the defense from game to game, adjusting to fit the opponent.

“There are a lot of different ways to do things and, if you find a way that works, I don't mess with it until it's broken,” LeBeau said.

He still coaches defensive backs the same way he did with the Eagles 40 years ago.

“What they have to do is exactly what I had to do,” said LeBeau, a star cornerback with the Lions for 14 seasons. “The players might seem a little faster, but I played against Bob Hayes, who was the world's fastest human. It's all relative. The fastest person in the world is still the fastest person in the world.”

But it's not as if LeBeau is stubborn and resistant to change.

“We're going to keep the same basic philosophy and basic foundation of what we do,” LeBeau said. “But we'll always have new stuff every year. In the NFL, you've got the top players in the world, but you've got the top coaches, and they're working, too.”

Most seasons, they're working to keep up with Dick LeBeau.

[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/...#ixzz2bvmNmb9u[/URL]