The secondary

[6Lombardis]

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

To this point, I believe the Haden Int. was partially caused by Bush... his hit that put the WR out may have been why the receiver on the int was looking for the hit coming instead of catching the pass. At the time I texted my friend “He was looking for Bush LOL”

 

[black and gold apex]

These are preseason games that count, no excuse this secondary has not done well in two weeks.

 

[Litos]

To this point, I believe the Haden Int. was partially caused by Bush... his hit that put the WR out may have been why the receiver on the int was looking for the hit coming instead of catching the pass. At the time I texted my friend “He was looking for Bush LOL”

Thought the same, he caused jeudy a serious case of alligator arms

Enviado desde mi Moto G (5) Plus mediante Tapatalk

 

[Confluence]

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.

Uggghhhh......Memories of Larry Foote trailing Rice thru the middle of the field on 20 yd gains......

 

[Confluence]

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

Excellent point. After game 2 last season the season was effectively over

 

[slashsteel]

Good thread for D snap count

 

[slashsteel]

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.c...-of-several-players-derek-watt-chase-claypool

Article makes a good point about when they had Edmunds on Fant and Bush on Gordon the coverage went smoother.


It is up to the coaches to put the players in the best position to succeed. So they need to quickly figure out what isn't working...

Devin Bush is a destroyer of runningbacks, and while he’s solid covering tight ends, he can’t handle the better receiving tight ends reliably. The Steelers shouldn’t personnel match Vince Williams with a good receiving tight end, and they shouldn’t match a blocking tight end with a nose tackle, especially when they have a two score lead in the second half. Make the opposing team run the ball, don’t keep giving up chunk plays and touchdowns to tight ends and running backs.

 

[topseed]

Fitzpatrick is not making splash plays the way he did early last year. Seemed like he was always around the ball when he first got to Pittsburgh, but then he cooled off at the end of the season, and that trend is continuing in 2020 -- he's now gone 9 games without an interception, and 7 without a fumble recovery.

 

[Steelmann]

It seems out of all the groups of positions in football,the secondary seems to be the hardest to get timing,cohesion,discipline correct. It's a frigging tough position. Take a look around at the scores and yardage from the QB's the first couple weeks. Our unit is not alone. Did you see Derek Carr torch NO tonight? I almost felt bad for Malcolm Jenkins. Our expectations might be a little too high this year. A short few years ago we were hardly getting any sacks. Now our sack totals,pressure is what drives our secondary to success. We will be fine,last year was an extraordinary year for our secondary it might be hard to reproduce. I would like to see Justin Layne get some playing time. Let's see what he's got as well.

 

[Stryker]

Have you guys stopped to think that the secondary is having problems because they haven't had game action against other pros until Week 1? We'll see how the secondary does this week. If they keep improving, that will be the indicator.

Also This game vs Houston will be more of a pressure and run blitz like we did against NYG. I expect a ton of pressures in this game, and if the trends match this game, look for 30 QB pressures. That's a ton of disruption. I like those odds!

 

[Coach]

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.

Yes, I am. The pass rush is excellent, however on plays, they are not in the QB's face, our coverage units have become suspect.


Edwards can't cover and is a liability. Now read this, I'm almost ready for Sean Davis to start.


Haden appears to have lost a step but is still good. The Steelers need to be careful matching him up with a speed WR.


Fitz has a fantastic 2019. This year has not been as impactful in 2020 though 2 games is a small sample.


Nelson has seen a huge drop off in play and has given up multiple scores and big plays. I'm not sure what the problem is, but it's becoming a big problem.


Hilton has been very solid in the slot.


Although Bush isn't part of the secondary, its becoming apparent good TE's will burn him. His coverage is disappointing, and that's what I worried about when we picked him. Bush's reads in coverage have been on the slow side.

 

[Stryker]

Hilton and Edmunds were the 2 best secondary players last game. The film doesn't lie. Might be Edmunds best game. Plus he's arriving to the player as the ball gets there, so his angles are better. Jumped in front of the one but would have landed out of bounds if he caught it. Still a great PD on 3rd down.

Fitz has disappeared.

 

[kev4heels]

Love Haden.
With that said, his coverage this year has been awful soft.
The rest of the year will determine if it's time to hang them up or not.

 

[FSF]

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.

I saw nothing that concerned me on defensive back play. We will see guys get beaten. It’s the nature of the league.

1. Two 3rd & 11’s—Broncos were bailed out on questionable (very late) PI calls. They scored when they should have been on sideline.

2. Haden’s lost step looked more like he was schematically playing out route when the rookie WR ran a go. Denver likely saw something & made specific adjustment for a play that didn’t happen again.

3. Outside of that one breakdown—Haden & Nelson put in quality play at CB. Best pair since Ike Taylor & Bryant McFadden were pairing that started 3 Super Bowls—arguably as pair better — needing to go back to Rod Woodson with 93-DJ Johnson or 94-Deon Figures.

3. 90% of Denver’s passing success came in 4th—the secondary stood up quite well especially when it was 1st & goal and they had nowhere to go; forcing FG 17-6

4. As pointed out, Devin Bush surrendered 2 TDs & Vince Williams was beaten on 3rd. Bush needs to improve his pass coverage but even Shazier was struggling with that year 2. I’m not concerned about him in that regard. He’ll improve his technique.

5. 6 1st downs by penalty—4 of which were quite questionable. Interesting how Ebron was interfered with on 10-yard line & they held the yellow hankie in pocket. As stated, the two 3rd & 11 were both really bad & late flags.

6. Much of the pressure came from blitzes from the secondary. 2 sacks & multiple pressures, only error was Hilton roughing — he barely hit but they call them.

7. Nobody seemed to notice—Terrell Edmonds put in a (2nd straight) quality performance & not just with the blitz/sack that stuffed the Broncos final drive

8. Minkah Fitzpatrick was not involved with many plays. It’s obvious that teams are scheming plans to avoid him. It’s only a matter of time till coaches & Minkah adjust so he’s in more of the Troy like free-lance position. This is directly a result of COVID impacted training camp/preseason

In the end—the D still clinched the game. They came up with big plays. The secondary blitz created a lot of the pressure. Weak penalties bailed out Broncos.

The areas of concern are offensive line cohesion & getting running game going consistently. Should have been easy 21-3 at half if OL was in sync (with DeCastro back)





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[slashsteel]

I saw nothing that concerned me on defensive back play. We will see guys get beaten. It’s the nature of the league.

1. Two 3rd & 11’s—Broncos were bailed out on questionable (very late) PI calls. They scored when they should have been on sideline.

2. Haden’s lost step looked more like he was schematically playing out route when the rookie WR ran a go. Denver likely saw something & made specific adjustment for a play that didn’t happen again.

3. Outside of that one breakdown—Haden & Nelson put in quality play at CB. Best pair since Ike Taylor & Bryant McFadden were pairing that started 3 Super Bowls—arguably as pair better — needing to go back to Rod Woodson with 93-DJ Johnson or 94-Deon Figures.

3. 90% of Denver’s passing success came in 4th—the secondary stood up quite well especially when it was 1st & goal and they had nowhere to go; forcing FG 17-6

4. As pointed out, Devin Bush surrendered 2 TDs & Vince Williams was beaten on 3rd. Bush needs to improve his pass coverage but even Shazier was struggling with that year 2. I’m not concerned about him in that regard. He’ll improve his technique.

5. 6 1st downs by penalty—4 of which were quite questionable. Interesting how Ebron was interfered with on 10-yard line & they held the yellow hankie in pocket. As stated, the two 3rd & 11 were both really bad & late flags.

6. Much of the pressure came from blitzes from the secondary. 2 sacks & multiple pressures, only error was Hilton roughing — he barely hit but they call them.

7. Nobody seemed to notice—Terrell Edmonds put in a (2nd straight) quality performance & not just with the blitz/sack that stuffed the Broncos final drive

8. Minkah Fitzpatrick was not involved with many plays. It’s obvious that teams are scheming plans to avoid him. It’s only a matter of time till coaches & Minkah adjust so he’s in more of the Troy like free-lance position. This is directly a result of COVID impacted training camp/preseason

In the end—the D still clinched the game. They came up with big plays. The secondary blitz created a lot of the pressure. Weak penalties bailed out Broncos.

The areas of concern are offensive line cohesion & getting running game going consistently. Should have been easy 21-3 at half if OL was in sync (with DeCastro back)





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They know enough now not to force feed Bush on a upper tier pass catching TE. Edmunds can take on that duty. Especially in the 4th with the game on the line...

 

[SteveA]

Is anyone else a little concerned about it?

Hell Yeah !!!

 

[Hoot]

Fitz has disappeared.

FWIW: Dale was asked in his QA about that yesterday at DKPS. He said they are playing Fitz down in the box the last two games because the run threat was considered bigger than the pass threat. Expect that to change with a better opposing QB.

I did not pay for the NFL rewind this year so I can't go back and look at tape to validate.

 

[slashsteel]

FWIW: Dale was asked in his QA about that yesterday at DKPS. He said they are playing Fitz down in the box the last two games because the run threat was considered bigger than the pass threat. Expect that to change with a better opposing QB.

I did not pay for the NFL rewind this year so I can't go back and look at tape to validate.

And their backup QB in like almost wins the game. They should leave the man at FS. Also they went away from Edmunds on Fant keep the players in the best positions to succeed.

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[Coach]

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.c...-of-several-players-derek-watt-chase-claypool

Article makes a good point about when they had Edmunds on Fant and Bush on Gordon the coverage went smoother.


It is up to the coaches to put the players in the best position to succeed. So they need to quickly figure out what isn't working...

Edmunds has 1 interception in 34 games played. He lead the team in missed tackles last year, and allowed 72% of the passes his way to be completed in 2019 .

No wonder he's such a target!

While the sack was nice last Sunday ( it was his first one in about 2 years ) he's very under productive relative to his chances.

Yes-- its up to the coaches. Phase Edmunds out on obvious passing downs and replace him with Sutton or Davis.

 

[FSF]

Hilton and Edmunds were the 2 best secondary players last game. The film doesn't lie. Might be Edmunds best game. Plus he's arriving to the player as the ball gets there, so his angles are better. Jumped in front of the one but would have landed out of bounds if he caught it. Still a great PD on 3rd down.

Fitz has disappeared.

Sad to see too many comments like this.

Teams scheme to avoid him. The plan for him to freelance more is WIP. No preseason & COVID camp set that back.

He’s a baller who will be utilized—low concern. Right now—it’s make the best decisions to help win; not experiment


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[SteveA]

Edmunds....

While the sack was nice last Sunday ( it was his first one in about 2 years ) he's very under productive relative to his chances.

Dude drives me crazy, but......It could be argued this sack saved the game