Steelers' Film Study: Tackles missing vs. Vikings

[Jooser]

Good read, interesting notes at the end....

Steelers' Film Study: Tackles missing vs. Vikings

By [EMAIL="mkaboly@dailynewsemail.com?subject=RE:%20St eelers%27%20Film%20Study:%20Tackles%20missing%20vs .%20Vikings%20story%20on%20TribLIVE.com"]Mark Kaboly[/EMAIL]

Published: Monday, Sept. 30, 2013, 11:45 p.m.
Updated 1 hour ago

Tackle the catch.
Or, in this case, just make the tackle.

If you spend any time listening to [URL="http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/"] Steelers[/URL] defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau speak about his defensive philosophy, it is all predicated on stopping the run, not allowing big plays and tackling the catch.

Against the Minnesota Vikings, the Steelers did none of that which led to a 34-27 loss and their first 0-4 start since 1968.

They allowed 145 yards rushing and three 50-plus yard plays for the first time in 15 years, but it all started with a missed tackle.
The Steelers missed 16 tackles, including a pair on special teams that led to 151 yards and directly to 14 of Minnesota's 34 points. The Steelers now have 41 missed tackles — the third most in the NFL, ranking only behind Washington and Jacksonville.

The biggest offender against the Vikings was cornerback Cortez Allen.
Allen missed three tackles, with the big one being a short 7-yard completion to Greg Jennings that he turned into a 70-yard touchdown. The score gave Minnesota a 10-0 first-quarter lead. The Vikings caught 16 passes for 248 yards Sunday and 154 of those yards came after the catch.

The other game-altering play came when four players missed tackles on Adrian Peterson — Vince Williams, Ike Taylor, LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons were the offending parties — led to a 60-yard touchdown run.
Allen (3), Williams (2), Woodley (2), Brett Keisel (2), Jarvis Jones (2), William Gay (1), Taylor (1), Polamalu (1), Timmons (1) and Shaun Suisham (1) accounted for all of the missed tackles in the game.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS
• Left tackle Mike Adams struggled, to say the least, as he was responsible for 3.5 of the Vikings' five sacks. You would think that after allowing a sack and getting called for holding Jared Allen (negating what would've been another sack early in the game) the coaching staff would provide some help for Adams. That wasn't the case. Only six times out of Ben Roethlisberger's 56 drop backs did Adams get a chip from a running back or tight end. Three of the sacks came when Adams didn't get any help from a chip.
• So, the Steelers were waiting for Le'Veon Bell's return to unveil the outside zone. Think again. Out of Bell's 16 carries, only two were with the outside zone scheme — gaining 4 and 5 yards. They did run it three other times, including once on Antonio Brown's reverse.
• It was quite obvious that the Steelers' defensive game plan was to keep everything in front of them and make sure they accounted for Adrian Peterson. That was evident with the Steelers uncharacteristically staying in their base defense for all but 10 snaps and rarely allowing Ike Taylor to play press-man coverage. Taylor pressed only nine times during the Vikings' 52 offensive snaps, and the majority of those presses came midway through the fourth quarter with the Steelers trailing 34-17. Cortez Allen pressed only four times on the other side of the formation.
• Troy Polamalu is listed as a strong safety, but you might as well call him a fifth linebacker. Polamalu lined up within the realm of the front seven on 48 of the 52 defensive snaps. He was asked to blitz only twice.
• The Steelers are a self-admitted run-right, between-the-tackles team. Against the Vikings, they were more diverse and more balanced. They ran the ball 10 times to the left and 10 times to the right while running around both end five times apiece.
• Rookie first-round pick Jarvis Jones is finding getting to the quarterback quite difficult in the NFL. In four games, he's knocked the quarterback down only once. Against the Vikings, he rushed 16 times and didn't register one hurry/pressure.
• Bell got all of the credit for his first-quarter touchdown run in which he bounced to the outside and outraced everybody to the corner of the end zone. However, it was fullback Will Johnson who made the play happen. Johnson was lined up outside of tight end David Johnson to the left. Johnson recognized Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway sneaking up in between Johnson and left tackle Marcus Gilbert. With Johnson blocking Brian Robison, and Gilbert required to double team the defensive tackle with David DeCastro, Greenway was left unblocked. Johnson crossed behind David Johnson and got a piece of Greenway that allowed Bell to bounce outside. With a block like that, you wonder why Will Johnson has played only 34 snaps and 14 run-block opportunities in four games.

[papillon]

This illuminates much of the banter on this board over the past 4 weeks, in that, what seem like obvious things to do to try and help, the Steelers are simply too stubborn or ignorant to do, either way it seems to be creating a lost season.

Pappy

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

This illuminates much of the banter on this board over the past 4 weeks, in that, what seem like obvious things to do to try and help, the Steelers are simply too stubborn or ignorant to do, either way it seems to be creating a lost season. ...

I would propose the lack of depth/talent is far and away the main reason we are where we are. Why we are in that position and the coaches responses are things I'm sure are being discussed extensively by the right people (even besides us ). But I don't think the *response* to the overall personnel suckiness is close to the main reason.

We could buy all the lipstick in Sam's Club and still not have enough to make this team look purty.

[Shoe]

I would propose the lack of depth/talent is far and away the main reason we are where we are. Why we are in that position and the coaches responses are things I'm sure are being discussed extensively by the right people (even besides us ). But I don't think the *response* to the overall personnel suckiness is close to the main reason.

We could buy all the lipstick in Sam's Club and still not have enough to make this team look purty.

You're right. BUT this team as presently constituted, should still beat Tennessee at home, and Minnesota with their backup QB, in a must-win scenario. I will generously concede that CIN & CHI are teams at/above our level, but the fact that this team is 0-4 isn't all based on talent.

JAX is an "0-4 team". OAK is an "0-4 team". Heck, even the Jets are an "0-4 team". We should be better at this point.

[Steelhere10]

That is why Haley is a waste, again all summer they practiced the zone blocking Bell get 4yds and 5yds the two times they ran it and never went back to it. Haley wants Tomlin job and he's too blind to see it. If it happens he deserves it.

[phillyesq]

Leaving Adams to block Allen one-on-one nearly 90% of the time is absolutely foolish. It shows not only a failure to make adjustments, but also a terrible game plan.

[papillon]

You're right. BUT this team as presently constituted, should still beat Tennessee at home, and Minnesota with their backup QB, in a must-win scenario. I will generously concede that CIN & CHI are teams at/above our level, but the fact that this team is 0-4 isn't all based on talent.

JAX is an "0-4 team". OAK is an "0-4 team". Heck, even the Jets are an "0-4 team". We should be better at this point.

I'm not sure that we can safely say that as the team is presently constituted they should be Tennessee and Minnesota. As presently constituted I'll give that they should be in the game (which by and large they were), but I don't think I can as far to say that they should be the Titans and Vikes.

Pappy

[steelz09]

I think this team had the talent to be 8-8. But an 8-8 that has coaching lapses, turnover machines (i.e. Ben), and very inconsistent execution is one of the worst teams in the league. And since last year, we've been one of the worst teams in the league and it isn't getting any better.

You don't need to have superior talent to win: Patriots vs. Atlanta. Atanta has better talent and it's not even close. There is no way the Patriots have more talent than the Steelers except for a couple of positions (like QB, NT - who is now out for the year) and maybe ILB.

[Shoe]

I'm not sure that we can safely say that as the team is presently constituted they should be Tennessee and Minnesota. As presently constituted I'll give that they should be in the game (which by and large they were), but I don't think I can as far to say that they should be the Titans and Vikes.

Pappy

I'm talking the circumstance as much as I'm talking the talent on the field.
You don't think we should win most home games? Especially a team with no identity and an uproven QB? You don't think we should be able to beat a comparable team (MIN) with their backup QB?

[NorthCoast]

The Steelers, and pretty much the rest of the NFL, has given up on the FB even though time and again it has proven effective even in the "modern" NFL.

Troy having to play up on the line of scrimmage is merely a symptom of the sorry state of the LBing corp. No excuse for Timmons, the others guys can chalk up to rookiness, it will happen against a great talent like AP.

[Jooser]

Good point NC, I'd also point out that the poor MLB play is a direct result of the inadequate DL play (particularly the NT), which allows OL to block down on the LB's. Neither the OLB nor the MLB have free range because the DL isn't occupying blockers like in the past. McLendon isn't getting the job done in the middle, he's not a big enough body for the 3-4 and rushes himself out the middle and exposes it.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Leaving Adams to block Allen one-on-one nearly 90% of the time is absolutely foolish. It shows not only a failure to make adjustments, but also a terrible game plan.

This is bang on. What is the job of the coaches heading into a game? Identify our strengths and weaknesses. Identify areas where we can exploit the other team and where we can prevent them from taking advantage of our team.

If I am a Steelers coach going into any game, I look at the big whiteboard and see a giant red circle around the offensive LT. ALWAYS!! And the number one duty of the coaching staff is to figure out a way to not allow this glaring weakness to be exploited every single play. It is the first question brought up at every game planning meeting every week.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Good point NC, I'd also point out that the poor MLB play is a direct result of the inadequate DL play (particularly the NT), which allows OL to block down on the LB's. Neither the OLB nor the MLB have free range because the DL isn't occupying blockers like in the past. McLendon isn't getting the job done in the middle, he's not a big enough body for the 3-4 and rushes himself out the middle and exposes it.

I agree with the analysis on the OL play, but that is the new reality for this D. We had a very rare benefit when we had 2 DL who often each occupied 2 blockers. Up until their demise, Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton were enormous for this D...Snack for several reasons.

I said somewhere in another thread that 5 years ago Keisel was the third best player on the DL. He is now 5 years older and the best player on the DL. The DL used to set up everyone else for success, and allow Lebeau to pull any one of many ideas out of his bag of tricks and they could all work. Now, instead of the DL tying up 5 blockers, they can barely handle three. That severely limits the range of plays that he can use. Now, instead of thinking like an attacker - "how can I use my advantage to get after the D?", Lebeau has to think defensively - "how do I cover up for my weaknesses up front?"

[ikestops85]

I agree with the analysis on the OL play, but that is the new reality for this D. We had a very rare benefit when we had 2 DL who often each occupied 2 blockers. Up until their demise, Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton were enormous for this D...Snack for several reasons.

I said somewhere in another thread that 5 years ago Keisel was the third best player on the DL. He is now 5 years older and the best player on the DL. The DL used to set up everyone else for success, and allow Lebeau to pull any one of many ideas out of his bag of tricks and they could all work. Now, instead of the DL tying up 5 blockers, they can barely handle three. That severely limits the range of plays that he can use. Now, instead of thinking like an attacker - "how can I use my advantage to get after the D?", Lebeau has to think defensively - "how do I cover up for my weaknesses up front?"

and his answer to this is have Troy play on the line of scrimmage. That in itself hurts the value of Troy because the opponent always knows he is playing along the line and not roaming the secondary.