The secondary

[Punxsutawney]

Is anyone else a little concerned about it?

There's been quite a bit of missed tackles, penalties and bad coverage in the first two games.

Haden looks like he might have lost a step and the safety play, overall, has not been good, though I fully expect Fitzpatrick to be better going forward.

 

[slashsteel]

Is anyone else a little concerned about it?

There's been quite a bit of missed tackles, penalties and bad coverage in the first two games.

Haden looks like he might have lost a step and the safety play, overall, has not been good, though I fully expect Fitzpatrick to be better going forward.

Haden looked like he lost a little last year but he makes up for it with smarts and technique .In a passing league sure they need to clean it up a little. I am sure with some game film and reps they will. Probably my biggest concern for the secondary would be their struggling ability to develop young talent. Or draft young talent whatever your poison pill.

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[Punxsutawney]

Haden looked like he lost a little last year but he makes up for it with smarts and technique .In a passing league sure they need to clean it up a little. I am sure with some game film and reps they will. Probably my biggest concern for the secondary would be their struggling ability to develop young talent. Or draft young talent whatever your poison pill.

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I thought Haden played at an Allpro level last year.

Receivers are getting more separation on him this year.

 

[BLITZ]

Nelson was so incredible last year, you had to expect a drop off.

Let's hope they get it together soon

 

[SteelerSask2]

The defense as a whole needs to get better if they are going to live up to these accolades. They have moments but that was pretty much a bottom third offense, then they lost their starting qb and inserted a backup I've never heard of. The penalties were bullshit but there is no way that should have been a game.

 

[slashsteel]

I thought Haden played at an Allpro level last year.

Receivers are getting more separation on him this year.

There was some signs last year not that he didn't play well overall. I think he is still playing well this year. Perhaps his decline is increased this year who knows. Little too early to tell. I would imagine we will get his best regardless. But the guy is up there in age you know it will gradually happen. But who is there to take his place? When there is a problem a team needs to have an answer. In the secondary the team more often than not answer is let's go get this player and bring him in. Drafting and developing in the secondary is this teams biggest weakness IMO as far as that process goes.

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[Coryea]

A couple of the penalties that kept Denver drives going were bullshit. The coverage has been very soft, but I can't help but keep going back to what Tomlin said last year, that he calls the defense differently when Ben is playing. I'm assuming the defense plays safer to not allow any big plays, rather than taking chances. I don't know, I don't remember WR's having his much space last season.

 

[slashsteel]

The defense as a whole needs to get better if they are going to live up to these accolades. They have moments but that was pretty much a bottom third offense, then they lost their starting qb and inserted a backup I've never heard of. The penalties were bullshit but there is no way that should have been a game.

The backup has I think has somewhere around 12 starts and a winning record. They game planned for one and was doing well against their starter until he went down. I am sure their game from film preparation was focused in on the starter. But yeah I think the D does need to improve moreso in coverage. I think they will but with the rats coming to town let us hope that improvement is sooner than later.

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[Punxsutawney]

There was some signs last year not that he didn't play well overall. I think he is still playing well this year. Perhaps his decline is increased this year who knows. Little too early to tell. I would imagine we will get his best regardless. But the guy is up there in age you know it will gradually happen. But who is there to take his place? When there is a problem a team needs to have an answer. In the secondary the team more often than not answer is let's go get this player and bring him in. Drafting and developing in the secondary is this teams biggest weakness IMO as far as that process goes.

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If they could draft and develop DBs like they do WRs, they'd be unstoppable.

 

[Punxsutawney]

A couple of the penalties that kept Denver drives going were bullshit. The coverage has been very soft, but I can't help but keep going back to what Tomlin said last year, that he calls the defense differently when Ben is playing. I'm assuming the defense plays safer to not allow any big plays, rather than taking chances. I don't know, I don't remember WR's having his much space last season.

They've been pretty aggressive with the blitzing this season, so I would not necessarily say they're playing it safe.

The DBs are just not playing as well as they were last year, especially Haden and Fitzpatrick, but it's only been two games.

I would be a bit more concerned if it was not for the strength of the pass rush.

 

[Coryea]

They've been pretty aggressive with the blitzing this season, so I would not necessarily say they're playing it safe.

The DBs are just not playing as well as they were last year, especially Haden and Fitzpatrick, but it's only been two games.

I would be a bit more concerned if it was not for the strength of the pass rush.

I'm talking playing it safe in coverage, the pass rush has been relentless.

 

[Shane Falco]

I think they will be fine. They will have some rough patches and adjustment pains.

 

[Stryker]

Hilton and Edmunds were the best players in the secondary yesterday. It's time for the money players to step up!

We also blitzed a ton yesterday. Tougher for the D with one less defender on the back end.

 

[Punxsutawney]

I'm talking playing it safe in coverage, the pass rush has been relentless.

Yeah, but generally speaking, a team is not taking an overall conservative approach to defense when they're rushing DBs as much as Tomlin and Butler have this season.

I do not see as much change in scheme as you do. It just seems that way because the DBs are getting beat more.

 

[Coryea]

Yeah, but generally speaking, a team is not taking an overall conservative approach to defense when they're rushing DBs as much as Tomlin and Butler have this season.

I do not see as much change in scheme as you do. It just seems that way because the DBs are getting beat more.

I'm just seeing a little more of a cushion from our DB's this season compared to last. Our ILB's have been getting targeted more this season already too, Williams was on a WR a few times last week, and Bush was getting targeted by Fant.

 

[Punxsutawney]

I'm just seeing a little more of a cushion from our DB's this season compared to last. Our ILB's have been getting targeted more this season already too, Williams was on a WR a few times last week, and Bush was getting targeted by Fant.

Bush got bent over the table by Fant on two or three plays where Fant got a good 5-10 yards of space.

It was discouraging to see, given the Steelers gave up so much to get Bush to win exactly those kinds of matchup.

Bush is fast and is a good tackler, but he doesn't look that great in coverage.

 

[Coryea]

Bush got bent over the table by Fant on two or three plays where Fant got a good 5-10 yards of space.

It was discouraging to see, given the Steelers gave up so much to get Bush to win exactly those kinds of matchup.

Bush is fast and is a good tackler, but he doesn't look that great in coverage.

Agreed, hopefully it's just something he didn't do alot of last season and will get better.

 

[slashsteel]

Agreed, hopefully it's just something he didn't do alot of last season and will get better.

He has made some plays in coverage so I know here and there there will be lapses. I think overall he is developing well.

 

[Sarge]

The backup has I think has somewhere around 12 starts and a winning record. They game planned for one and was doing well against their starter until he went down. I am sure their game from film preparation was focused in on the starter. But yeah I think the D does need to improve moreso in coverage. I think they will but with the rats coming to town let us hope that improvement is sooner than later.

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I didn't think that sounded right so I looked it up. Jeff Driskel has started 8 games in his career, including the one yesterday. He is 1-7 in those games, with 12 TD and 7 INT. He was 1-4 for Cincy, 0-3 for Detroit and 0-1 for the Broncos. He isn't a good QB.

 

[slashsteel]

I didn't think that sounded right so I looked it up. Jeff Driskel has started 8 games in his career, including the one yesterday. He is 1-7 in those games, with 12 TD and 7 INT. He was 1-4 for Cincy, 0-3 for Detroit and 0-1 for the Broncos. He isn't a good QB.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DrisJe00.htm

I was incorrect about the record I probably was thinking about his TD to INT ratio and just got it mixed up.

He played on two ****** teams so I am not going to stamp him as a bad QB.

You can see his per game yardage average per year went up (not unreasonable for it to go up again in his third year) and he almost had a 60 percent completion percentage, and we often see QBs with more INTs than TDs so I would label him "ok" in that area too,

We will get a chance to see if he shines next week and see where he is as a player this year.

But yeah was wrong about his wins my error.

 

[steel dino]

I didn't think that sounded right so I looked it up. Jeff Driskel has started 8 games in his career, including the one yesterday. He is 1-7 in those games, with 12 TD and 7 INT. He was 1-4 for Cincy, 0-3 for Detroit and 0-1 for the Broncos. He isn't a good QB.

Would take him as our back-up right now...

 

[mightyguru]

The secondary looked bad and got smacked around by a pedestrian scumbag yesterday. I'm just hoping there's just a little rust yet to be knocked off.

 

[Sarge]

Would take him as our back-up right now...

That isn't much of a leap when your back-ups are Rudolph and Dobbs.

 

[bermudasteel]

I think they will be fine. They will have some rough patches and adjustment pains.

Agreed. I don't want to hear anymore votes against preseason games - it's gonna take a little longer to get them all in synch but those games provide the necessary opportunities for teammates to gel.

I see A CHYT LOAD of subbing happening on defense as well. I suppose that could be another attribute that makes things look a bit different than last year???

All in all - the sky is NOT falling...

 

[steel dino]

That isn't much of a leap when your back-ups are Rudolph and Dobbs.

Yes---that is true----its not much of a leap...and that's unfortunate and concerning....