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Seriously, some who expected this from our Defense

FSF

FSF

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Going into the season, everyone expected the defense to be a major weak link in the Steelers chances. Personally I thought I would witness that horrendous 1986 pass defense featuring Harvey Clayton. Now while this is not making me forget what that 2008 unit did, I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised.

Cameron Heyward is a genuine stud even if the statistics don't show it with only a pair of sacks, but he is creating havoc on the field. If that guy was playing in a 4-3 his numbers would be ridiculous. I love how he's taken over as the leader of that defense as well.

Stephen Tuitt is a pleasant surprise on the other end, already with 3.5 sacks and being a playmaker as well.

Bud Dupree is just looking like a guy who'll be a stud, but for now he's simply making plays based on ability, imagine what he'll do when he learns the game.

Ryan Shazier looks like he can be a player if he can ever stay healthy.

Timmons has just been his steady and strong self while Harrison keeps making plays and is putting the Steelers sack record on his sights (71.5 --> 77).

Antwon Blake and Ross Cockrell aren't exactly Rod Woodson and Mel Blount, but be honest, did you expect this much from them?


As much as I loved Dick LeBeau, the rules changes and hitting of receivers has really made his style less effective. Nothing to be ashamed of, the man practically invented the defense that shut down the West Coast offense. But it's a new era and it has to be brought with new ideas to counter. I honor Dick LeBeau for what he did for the Steelers, but just as it moved past Chuck Noll, it has moved past LeBeau.

Be it coaches or players, Father Time is unbeaten.
 
I wasn't high on the Butler hire at all but he's done a fantastic job to this point. If he can sustain this ride... Wow
 
Need to cut our losses with Shark, Shazier (made of glass), J. Jones (also made of glass and way less talented than Shazier).
 
Slash#10 said:
Need to cut our losses with Shark, Shazier (made of glass), J. Jones (also made of glass and way less talented than Shazier).
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while they are in their rookie contract you keep them and try to get the most of them
 
I've seen Blake make splash plays but also miss many tackles with overpursuing or being over agressive, that's a spot they should try to improve soon, being it with Boykin or Cortez, give them a try to see what they can do
 
They are doing exactly what I hoped they would do. Playing high risk defense. Crowding the line and making Guesses in the secondary. That is the only way to play defense unless you have a star secondary or you have a d line that can get pressure sending five.
 
I knew they had potential the question was would could they come together and play as a team.

For the most part they have.

SS and Blake two weaknesses I saw before the season and two weaknesses that will either stabilize enough or not.

So far it has been a little of both.

The bend don't break D is because the pressure is being applied.

Which can mask some of your secondary weaknesses.

Make no mistake about it both positions need upgrading.

Allen and Allen can be stopgaps maybe....

Another way is when Ben is healthy that high powered O keep the D off the field with time of possession.

I think the team can do some great things, these injuries need to calm somewhat though..........
 
I thought this D was going to be terrible. One of the worst in Steeler history. Clearly, I was wrong.

But Jarvis Jones still sucks.
 
I just didn't to see the passive sit back and wait defense that would give the 5 yd out, in, curl etc pass on every play if the opposing team wanted it with the 10 yard cushion. While we do employ the 10 yd cushion at times(as every team does). This team's scheme is night and day compare to the last few seasons. Say good bye to the "Death by a thousand cuts or catches" defense. Good job Butler. Hopefully you can keep it up for this season and seasons to come. :)
 
I too bought in on some of the "nay sayers" continous knock on the "D" . VERY pleasently amazed on what Butler (and his supporting cast) has done with this group. Cam / Tuitt / even Mclendon has picked it up from last year. GOOD JOB



Salute the nation
 
Drink IRON City said:
I too bought in on some of the "nay sayers" continous knock on the "D" . VERY pleasently amazed on what Butler (and his supporting cast) has done with this group. Cam / Tuitt / even Mclendon has picked it up from last year. GOOD JOB



Salute the nation
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Health is another big factor here. Seems like one or two is always banged up. If they could all stay healthy they may just get better.
 
Secondary is big surprise for me, a lot of knocking the ball out, solid hits than last few years.
 
slashsteel said:
I knew they had potential the question was would could they come together and play as a team.

For the most part they have.

SS and Blake two weaknesses I saw before the season and two weaknesses that will either stabilize enough or not.

So far it has been a little of both.

The bend don't break D is because the pressure is being applied.

Which can mask some of your secondary weaknesses.

Make no mistake about it both positions need upgrading.

Allen and Allen can be stopgaps maybe....

Another way is when Ben is healthy that high powered O keep the D off the field with time of possession.

I think the team can do some great things, these injuries need to calm somewhat though..........
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What made you think they had potential when HOFer Dick couldn't do much with the same talent for the last few seasons? I am just curious.
 
This Defense will be facing Dalton, Manning, Luck and Russell Wilson. They will have their work cut out for them.
 
bigtwnvin said:
This Defense will be facing Dalton, Manning, Luck and Russell Wilson. They will have their work cut out for them.
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Maybe with this guy. As it turning out the rest are struggling.
 
stillwright said:
What made you think they had potential when HOFer Dick couldn't do much with the same talent for the last few seasons? I am just curious.
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The fact that there is a lot of talent on the front 7 and that Butler intended to let Tuitt and Heyward make plays? As great as Lebeau is/was, his defense was way too complicated to break in several new / young starters and it wasn't a great fit for the talent we have unless Lebeau was ready to make changes similar to those Butler has made (letting the DL make plays, blitzing more often and bringing the safety / CB blitz back into the playbook).

I know someone is going to come back and say "but rookies and young players DID play in Lebeau's defense, remember Casey Hampton etc.". That's true but it was a case of 1 young guy playing alongside 10 veterans. I think our D would be in much worse shape if Lebeau was breaking in so many guys that haven't played much together (Tuitt, Shazier, Dupree, Blake, Cockrell etc.).
 
Dalton and Luck are playing ok, but wilson has been off and Manning has been downright bad. Denver would be lucky to have a couple wins without their D. As long as we don't let Denvers Wrs wide open we should be fine. Mannings arm is done. I am more worried about playing against Denvers D.
 
Butler doing a much better job than I had originally anticipated with this group. He does a good job of getting everyone involved most notably the D-Line. I like what Cam and Tuitt have been up to so far. I thonk Dupree will be a real stud in this league and I wish I could say the same for the other two Shazier and Jones. These two just appear to be too fricking fragile to compete at this level and are always battling some kind of injury or another. Gay, Cockrell and Blake are doing a pretty decent job and the turnovers are there this year as opposed to years past. Butler has them making plays and creating havoc thus forcing the turnovers.
 
FSF said:
Going into the season, everyone expected the defense to be a major weak link in the Steelers chances. Personally I thought I would witness that horrendous 1986 pass defense featuring Harvey Clayton. Now while this is not making me forget what that 2008 unit did, I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised.

Cameron Heyward is a genuine stud even if the statistics don't show it with only a pair of sacks, but he is creating havoc on the field. If that guy was playing in a 4-3 his numbers would be ridiculous. I love how he's taken over as the leader of that defense as well.

Stephen Tuitt is a pleasant surprise on the other end, already with 3.5 sacks and being a playmaker as well.

Bud Dupree is just looking like a guy who'll be a stud, but for now he's simply making plays based on ability, imagine what he'll do when he learns the game.

Ryan Shazier looks like he can be a player if he can ever stay healthy.

Timmons has just been his steady and strong self while Harrison keeps making plays and is putting the Steelers sack record on his sights (71.5 --> 77).

Antwon Blake and Ross Cockrell aren't exactly Rod Woodson and Mel Blount, but be honest, did you expect this much from them?


As much as I loved Dick LeBeau, the rules changes and hitting of receivers has really made his style less effective. Nothing to be ashamed of, the man practically invented the defense that shut down the West Coast offense. But it's a new era and it has to be brought with new ideas to counter. I honor Dick LeBeau for what he did for the Steelers, but just as it moved past Chuck Noll, it has moved past LeBeau.

Be it coaches or players, Father Time is unbeaten.
Click to expand...

We just didn't know what new players like Cockrell or Dupree could add to the defense.

We just didn't know how much Tuitt would improve from his rookie season.

We just did not know how much Harrison had left.

All of the above broke the Steelers way. Now we have a better pass rush and the ability to get more turnovers.

I still have serious reservations about our secondary in coverage.
 
Very happy with the defense so far. Love the aggressive style, getting after the QB and swarming toward the ball in the secondary. As expected, we give up a few big plays, but honestly not even that many. And it is far outweighed by the splash plays in the form of sacks and turnovers that we've been missing so dearly. Thanks Butler for getting us back on track
 
hopefully we do address our secondary with more passion this offseason but for now it has been splendid watching our defense grow and get better and better each game even with all the injuries.
next man mentality has been working so far....
Thank you Keith Butler for making this entire defense much more aggressive than it has been in the past. It has been paying off.
 
I honestly thought we wouldn't see major improvement till mid season at best. Even then I didn't expect this level this season. They earned respect
 
I was excited about the D line at the start of the season. Except for Cam Thomas, they have all exceeded expectations though. I thought the secondary was going to be awful. While not great, the ball skills have improved. How many INTs did Ike Taylor drop every year? It seems our current d-backs all have good hands and play aggressively. I think Lake is doing a great job. I've liked what I've seen of Dupree so far, his burst and speed really flash on the edge. I think he has a bright future.
 
bigtwnvin said:
This Defense will be facing Dalton, Manning, Luck and Russell Wilson. They will have their work cut out for them.
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True...but they faced Flacco, Rivers, Palmer, and Kapornick (would could be compared to Wilson)....

Overall...one could argue that the four they faced might be slightly better than the four you have mentioned..
 
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