It starts with the 10yd cushion...

[Steelhere10]

Until LeBeau change that, this is what will happen. It used to be the great ones that exposed this now that all have caught on to this soft coverage.

[Oviedo]

Why change. LeBeau gets the free pass no matter how the defense performs

[Mister Pittsburgh]

How about Troy being on the LOS on the Jennings TD rumble, and the long TD pass in the endzone. 0-4....this is ugly.

[SidSmythe]

Yes it's the 10 yard cushion!! The Steelers won 2 Superbowls w/ a 10 yard cushion so that has to be it.

[DukieBoy]

The 10 yard cushion was exploited early this game and helped put us behind (again).

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Yes it's the 10 yard cushion!! The Steelers won 2 Superbowls w/ a 10 yard cushion so that has to be it.

We won two SB with crap offensive lines as well.

[birtikidis]

It all starts with the NT. You're kidding yourself if you think it doesn't. And this "penetrating" pick a gap bullcrap y'all wanted has led to a few long runs right up the middle.

[DukieBoy]

It all starts with the NT. You're kidding yourself if you think it doesn't. And this "penetrating" pick a gap bullcrap y'all wanted has led to a few long runs right up the middle.

Gaping holes in the DL several times today.

[BURGH86STEEL]

It wasn't the cushion that was the problem. Missed tackles were the problem. Missed tackles lead to most of the big plays for the Vikings. Execution, execution, execution.

[pittpete]

At the start of todays game:
Me: Rob watch the first play of the game, it will be a short pass.
Rob: Dad how do you know?
Me: Just watch bud
Rob: Wow, dad how did you know that?
Me: That's because the Steelers start out every game like that and other teams know it.
Later on:
Rob: Dad why are the corners playing so far off the WR's?
Dad: I would love to know the same thing Rob

My son is 8 years old BTW

[skyhawk]

Softest most inept defense in the league.

[JB13]

Just looked at the stats from the game:

* Steelers had 13 more first downs than Vikings
* Steelers held ball for 13 more minutes than Vikings
* Steelers ran 26 more plays than Vikings
* Steelers had 40 more total yards than Vikings
* Steelers had 1 fewer penalty and 39 fewer penalty yards

However, Steelers had 2 more turnovers than the Vikings and the Vikings had 68 more yards on the ground. Yards per carry favored Vikings - 5.8 to 3.7. Steelers had one sack, Vikings had five.

Offense was fairly competitive, except the O line play, but the defense gave up big plays, didn't get to the QB and didn't turn the ball over. "Soft" definitely comes to mind when describing this D. I'm happy Troy is healthy, but he's not making nearly as many impact plays has he once did. Not putting the blame on him, but I think it's symptomatic of what's wrong with the defense this year.

[Sword]

I hate the cushion....I would rather play one on one and get beat than give cushion....
Look at the CB for New England last night..he went after the ball like a great receiver and intercepted it...
Why can't we do that?

[Sugar]

I hate the cushion....I would rather play one on one and get beat than give cushion....
Look at the CB for New England last night..he went after the ball like a great receiver and intercepted it...
Why can't we do that?

Because Ike can't catch.

[ikestops85]

Softest most inept defense in the league.

Sorry skyhawk but that is one of the most ignorant posts ever. You obviously havn't watched most of the defenses in the league to say that. I'm not saying the defense played well. They obviously played like sh*t in this game. It certainly wasn't the players or LeBeau's finest hour but to we are far from the most inept defense in the league.

We are still one of the better defenses but not near the top like we used to be. We don't get pressure on the QB and we aren't allowed to hit receivers hard anymore (that call on the hit on Heath was BS). We are certainly not feared anymore although I can only think of 2 defenses that are (Seattle and San Fran). So is the problem with the players or coaches or both? Since we have been playing the zone blitz with a soft cushion since LeBeau came back I really can't see how it is the system. It doesn't take Offensive Coordinators 10 years to "figure it out" and start beating it. No, they've known for a long time how to do that. I think it has more to do with the players not handling their responsibilities. That's not to say that LeBeau called a perfect game. Far from it but if we would have tackled like we normally do we would have won this game.

Note: To all you Gay bashers out there I would have rather had Gay on his worst day than what Cortez showed us yesterday.