3 games in, thoughts on Butlers D?

[fordfixer]

I have no thoughts on Butlers D and evidently neither does he

[squidkid]

defense is soft as tits

seems strange a certain poster isn't losing his mind over the "scheme"

let's not compare this crappy defense to wonderful women parts

[Captain Lemming]

Our D has more holes than an aerated green. Even at full strength, we were not getting to the QB. 3 games, 1 Sack, and allowed 3 different QBs 300+ yards passing.

Appears that someone called in sick when DL was teaching rushing the passer.
.

Wasn't that Butlers job when DL was here?

[Shoe]

I'm curious about Tuitt and Cam's play.

I had high hopes for the D, based on those two guys and Shazier. I know Cam is playing hurt, which I admire. Cam is tough as nails. But I wonder how our D got pushed around so easily, with those two "studs" in there. I'm just curious where they were when PHI RBs were galloping untouched toward the end.

[Captain Lemming]

i think this is one of the frustrating things we have to deal with since Butler is pretty much a DL disciple.

Funny when we lose.....he is a DL disciple, (I have said it all along) but when we win he is such a departure.

One thing I noticed in preseason is our back ups and practice squad looked pretty bad vs other teams. So when we have injuries i think we will see glaring holes in the D.
i dont know what they are doing in practice all week. we still look like we are vanilla and hoping for a mistake instead of causing them with pressure.

As I have said all along....talent or lack thereof.
A week ago we have articles about how we have the best inside LB tandem in the league, they get hurt and we cant stop nothin.
Why? The studs of this defense were out.

[Captain Lemming]

I'm curious about Tuitt and Cam's play.

I had high hopes for the D, based on those two guys and Shazier. I know Cam is playing hurt, which I admire. Cam is tough as nails. But I wonder how our D got pushed around so easily, with those two "studs" in there. I'm just curious where they were when PHI RBs were galloping untouched toward the end.

Healthy linebackers clean up behind the linemen.

[Shoe]

Healthy linebackers clean up behind the linemen.

Yup. Like I said, I don't know. I'm just wondering.

To me, the bottom line is that we need the guys on the field who can make plays. So as much as I hate the way Burns and Sean Davis have tackled so far, they're the only ones who offer any hope of a guy with takeaway ability back there. Shazier is definitely that in the middle, but he's always hurt. With the pass-rushers, I think we need to keep running Chickillo out there until we realize he can't do it. Because Jarvis won't. Moats won't. Deebo will, but he's 62 years old. We need playmakers. Hitters. Tacklers. Intercepters.

[Captain Lemming]

Yup. Like I said, I don't know. I'm just wondering.

To me, the bottom line is that we need the guys on the field who can make plays. So as much as I hate the way Burns and Sean Davis have tackled so far, they're the only ones who offer any hope of a guy with takeaway ability back there. Shazier is definitely that in the middle, but he's always hurt. With the pass-rushers, I think we need to keep running Chickillo out there until we realize he can't do it. Because Jarvis won't. Moats won't. Deebo will, but he's 62 years old. We need playmakers. Hitters. Tacklers. Intercepters.

I dont get all the Chickillo love but I say its worth a shot.
Still wish we had kept HoJo over Chick myself.
Faster and WAY more athletic, he has more upside than Jarvis for sure.

Dude started 5 games in his first season on the Tampa roster as a WAY TOO SMALL defensive end and has equaled Jarvis Jones career sack total.

This talented kid is languishing on the bench because he is just too small at DE.

[Mr.wizard]

It will be tough for our linebackers and lineman as long as we keep playing only 2 down lineman. We seem to be using the "bend but don't break " philosophy which I really do not understand considering how good our offense is. Why not be more aggressive on D, if you give up a big play our offense can get it back. The "bend but don't break" worked in the first 2 games, but we saw what happens when it doesn't, long drives that end in TD's and chew up clock, tough to overcome even if our offense is clicking.

[RobinCole]

Shoe: You acknowledge that Cam is playing hurt. I agree. You admire that. I do too. But do you think a hobbled Cam is playing as well as a healthy Cam? I don't. Therein may lie part of the reason why the DL is getting pushed around. Guys don't play as well when hurt as they do when healthy. Point being, Shazier is not unique in that respect.

[phillyesq]

3 games and 3 300 yard passers with a WR getting 100+ yards each game. The bend don't break worked for 2 games (both teams with losing records) and was a complete bust yesterday. The Eagles didn't have a single three and out drive. They scored on 6 of their first 7 possessions. That is horrific. I think Chickillo was the only D player to even touch Wentz. The lack of pressure is disturbing. QBs are mostly just sitting back there with sometimes unlimited time.

Smith for KC lit it up week 1 (363 yards) but has been mediocre the next 2 weeks (186, 237). It will be interesting to see if the Steelers D can keep the last 2 game trend or if he throws for a ton of yards.

I'm hopeful this was just one of those days. Watch the film once, then throw it away, forget it and move forward. Nice to go 3 out 4 before the bye (Chiefs, Jets, Dolphins and then Pats).

I was fine with that style against Washington. It wasn't expected, and Cousins never adjusted. And I get opening with that sort of style. Wentz had done well against the blitz, so don't play into his strength. I get it. What disturbed me was that there was no adjustment throughout the game, and nobody had any difficulty picking out the coverages.

The Steelers are going to see a similar offense this week. I hope they make the adjustments. For one thing, I'd keep Hargrave in on more passing situations, and pull a linebacker instead of him. The Steelers have gotten no pressure with their small 4 man front, so why not try a nickel alignment with Hargrave, Cam and Tuitt?

[BradshawsHairdresser]

The Steelers have gotten no pressure with their small 4 man front, so why not try a nickel alignment with Hargrave, Cam and Tuitt?

Just the kind of "out of the box" thinking that has not occurred to anyone on the Steelers' coaching staff yet.

[Shoe]

I was fine with that style against Washington. It wasn't expected, and Cousins never adjusted. And I get opening with that sort of style. Wentz had done well against the blitz, so don't play into his strength. I get it. What disturbed me was that there was no adjustment throughout the game, and nobody had any difficulty picking out the coverages.

The Steelers are going to see a similar offense this week. I hope they make the adjustments. For one thing, I'd keep Hargrave in on more passing situations, and pull a linebacker instead of him. The Steelers have gotten no pressure with their small 4 man front, so why not try a nickel alignment with Hargrave, Cam and Tuitt?

I agree. I'm fine with a bend-don't-break style, and that style would've seemed to be a great one to play against a rookie QB. But it is predicated on being able to pressure the QB with your base rushers. I think it is clear that we won't be able to employ this style exclusively, that we will need to get more aggressive and risk giving up more big plays... because we just don't get any pressure with our front 3-4 (i.e. one sack total).

[Slapstick]

As it was pointed out before, it is a results league...so far, the results for the Steelers are two wins and one loss...

Butler's soft zone defense worked in the first two weeks, but got absolutely abused in week three...so, yes, the team will definitely have to clean that up or they will be abused again...

We have a prime time game at home after coming off a nasty road loss...meanwhile, both the Ravens and the Patriots are in the process of losing conference games...Ben needs to come out strong tonight and have the bounce back game we need him to have...when our offense is scoring, Butler's soft zone defense works...

[bostonsteeler]

As it was pointed out before, it is a results league...so far, the results for the Steelers are two wins and one loss...

Butler's soft zone defense worked in the first two weeks, but got absolutely abused in week three...so, yes, the team will definitely have to clean that up or they will be abused again...

We have a prime time game at home after coming off a nasty road loss...meanwhile, both the Ravens and the Patriots are in the process of losing conference games...Ben needs to come out strong tonight and have the bounce back game we need him to have...when our offense is scoring, Butler's soft zone defense works...

The ravens are back in the game. Give it to them; they never just cave like we did last week.
The Patriots will have Brady back.

The Steelers dont have that much wiggle room if they want to stay up front. The Ravens have an easier schedule than we do.