what this superbowl has shown us....

[feltdizz]

It use to be a stop the run first, then the pass 2nd. Now it's let them run (within reason) and stop the pass 1st.

I think it's stop the run and the pass regardless of which is first... this can be done with a great front 7. If we can get pressure with 4 to 5 guys we will see our DB's play much better.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Front 7 doesn't cover downfield. That doesn't make your old & slow secondary faster. You could put all probowlers in the Steelers front 7 & Manning & Brady would lite the secondary up.

[feltdizz]

Front 7 doesn't cover downfield. That doesn't make your old & slow secondary faster. You could put all probowlers in the Steelers front 7 & Manning & Brady would lite the secondary up.

like Brady did with the Giants a few years ago?

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

like Brady did with the Giants a few years ago?

Sure! If that is the best you could come up with. A 21-17 Superbowl with 750 yards of total offense. Looks like a real defensive battle to me.

But Hell...Why speculate...We played Brady in 2013? Brady put up 432 passing yards & 4 TDS against the Steelers this past year. The Steelers were really stingy that game only allowing 610 total yards. Dam front 7.

[feltdizz]

Sure! If that is the best you could come up with. A 21-17 Superbowl with 750 yards of total offense. Looks like a real defensive battle to me.

But Hell...Why speculate...We played Brady in 2013? Brady put up 432 passing yards & 4 TDS against the Steelers this past year. The Steelers were really stingy that game only allowing 610 total yards. Dam front 7.

Our front 7 sucked this year... but when we our front 7 was better a few years ago we looked good vs Brady and we were respectable vs Manning last year to start the season.

Now for those Giants...

Both SB's Brady has struggled to put up points vs the Giants.
2007 ppg: 37 Giants held them to 10
2011 ppg: 32 Giants held them to 17

Who the hell was in the secondary those 2 seasons? Exactly...
Who was in the front 7? Strahan, Umenyiora, Tuck...

I have no problem with improving the secondary but I think it's much easier and faster to help the DB's if we go front 7.

[NorthCoast]

There are only a couple of QBs that can dictate a defensive scheme. First task is to build a defense that can dominate your division. Then you can go after skills needed to win the conference. For the AFC North, that means stop the run first, because there is no QB that will consistently win with his arm (other than Roethlisberger of course).

BTW, the SEA coaching staff did exactly what a Bellichick defense would do, take away what the other team does best. Most defenses try to attack the other teams weaknesses.

[JIMBO]

Agree, but they can't rot on the bench and on special teams for two years!

[NorthCoast]

Agree, but they can't rot on the bench and on special teams for two years!

Can we please get past the "DL doesn't play rookies" ? I think 2013 proved that if there is substandard play by those on the field, he is willing and capable of letting a rookie get a shot. V Williams started 8 games. Why? Because there was no one better at his position.
JJ got a shot, but he didn't perform to the standard, thus he saw pine.

[feltdizz]

Can we please get past the "DL doesn't play rookies" ? I think 2013 proved that if there is substandard play by those on the field, he is willing and capable of letting a rookie get a shot. V Williams started 8 games. Why? Because there was no one better at his position.
JJ got a shot, but he didn't perform to the standard, thus he saw pine.

sorry.... this was the year we HAD to play rookies.

[pfelix73]

OK, and what's your point? Meaning in those years where we didn't have to play rooks we should've played them just because??? You get to being #1 on the depth chart for a reason- deservedly so, don't ya think?

I agree that we need to move on from the DL bashing... It's not getting us anywhere... let's move on.

[sick beats]

Defense still wins championships. I hope the FO keeps this in mind come draft time.

Yes, it does, but you have to make it there first before you can win it. And, you need an exceptional D for this to occur. Even though the Steelers D of 2012 was rated as #1, it wasn't nearly good enough to win a ring. So, yes, D still wins championships, but it better be a stellar D in order for that to be true. Seattle had an elite D; Pgh hasn't had one in years.

[D Rock]

Our front 7 sucked this year... but when we our front 7 was better a few years ago we looked good vs Brady and we were respectable vs Manning last year to start the season.

Now for those Giants...

Both SB's Brady has struggled to put up points vs the Giants.
2007 ppg: 37 Giants held them to 10
2011 ppg: 32 Giants held them to 17

Who the hell was in the secondary those 2 seasons? Exactly...
Who was in the front 7? Strahan, Umenyiora, Tuck...

I have no problem with improving the secondary but I think it's much easier and faster to help the DB's if we go front 7.

Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Kenny Phillips, and Antrell Rolle in 2011 - not all-pros, but not scrubs either

2007 had Gibril Wilson, Sam Madison, James Butler, Aaron Ross, and Corey Webster - again, a decent bunch.

[feltdizz]

Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Kenny Phillips, and Antrell Rolle in 2011 - not all-pros, but not scrubs either

2007 had Gibril Wilson, Sam Madison, James Butler, Aaron Ross, and Corey Webster - again, a decent bunch.

Did you know this off the top of your head or look it up?

99% of the time when I have a debate about the front 4 and ask who the Giants had at DB it's crickets.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

QUOTE=feltdizz;591645]Our front 7 sucked this year... but when we our front 7 was better a few years ago we looked good vs Brady and we were respectable vs Manning last year to start the season.

Now for those Giants...

Both SB's Brady has struggled to put up points vs the Giants.
2007 ppg: 37 Giants held them to 10
2011 ppg: 32 Giants held them to 17

Who the hell was in the secondary those 2 seasons? Exactly...
Who was in the front 7? Strahan, Umenyiora, Tuck...

I have no problem with improving the secondary but I think it's much easier and faster to help the DB's if we go front 7. [/QUOTE]


Our front 7 needs improvement but our secondary was horrible...Old & Slow. That is the core in trouble. Our front 7 had a new starter at NT & DE and 2 rookies. There is youth in place in the front 7. The secondary had (3) 32+ starters...That doesn't get better the next year.

Felt...We played NE this past year. No need to "wonder" what if, could, should, would happen. 2013 is a fresh memory...How did this secondary fair against Brady in 2013? You came away from this season thinking front 7 is the problem...Fix that & 34 year old Ike, 35 year old Ryan, & 33 year old Troy will look younger & faster and all will be better. Doesn't happen like that. The only thing that will help this secondary is called "addition by subtraction".

Now for those Giants. I don't know why we are talking about Giants-Pats. You just mention the pass rushers. Who was in the secondary? Sam Madison, Aaron Ross, Gibril Wilson, Deon Grant, Kenny Phillips, Antrel Rolle, Corey Webster. To quote you..."Exactly". You might have heard of some of those guys. You say the Giants "held them" but post the score. Giants won 17-14. You said 10 but that isn't an issue. Brady passed for 266. The other was 21-17. Brady passed for 276. It isn't a stretch to say that the Giants had the best front 4 for a stretch...They were a part of their success.

As for the Steelers decline...It would be accurate to say that the Steelers had one of the worst starting 4 Dbs in 2013. No amount or caliber of new players in the front 7 will change 34 year old Ike, 35 year old Ryan, & 33 year old Troy as starters. The Steelers did suffer through some growing pains of 1st year starters & rookies in the front 7 but that will get better with game reps....Old & Slow doesn't get better with game reps.

[flippy]

As for the Steelers decline...It would be accurate to say that the Steelers had one of the worst starting 4 Dbs in 2013. No amount or caliber of new players in the front 7 will change 34 year old Ike, 35 year old Ryan, & 33 year old Troy as starters. The Steelers did suffer through some growing pains of 1st year starters & rookies in the front 7 but that will get better with game reps....Old & Slow doesn't get better with game reps.

Im not sure I'd put so much blame on the secondary. Take away Hampton, Harrison, and Foote out of the front 7 and that created huge problems getting after the QB, forcing mistakes, and making tackles. Going from Harrison generating pressure and making a ton of tackles to JJ doing next to nothing was the biggest drop off. Then McClendon not being able to control the LOS and collapse the pocket freed up linemen to get to our ILBs making them less effective. It also hurt the pass rush. Just look at how often Woodley (when healthy) went right by the QB with a huge pocket to step up into.

Then you take away Foote and almost play Troy at ILB and leave Clark often as the single high safety and Clark's never been a coverage guy and he definitely slowed down. That puts added pressure on the CBs. And I'm not sure Tez stepped up like everyone expected.

It was a domino effect. But I'd say the biggest missing pieces were our NT, ROLB, and ILB in that order. And if the front 7 could have tackled and got pressure, I think we would have been ok on the backend. Of course, there's going to have to be some turnover and new blood in our secondary. But I'm not sure I'd be ready to pin our lack of success on that unit. Actually if Tez can play to the level we think he's capable, that unit could quickly turn into a strength on our D. I think Clark's the only one who's visibly slowed down and become less effective on the unit.