That's not true at all. The defense going south wasn't coupled with Bush's injury.
i dont, not with our DL , and with Bush and Watt on the left side.
Bud's absence would have been much more manageable with Bush in the lineup. At the point where Bud got hurt you are two legs out of the stool broken. You were down to only Watt as the centre piece linebacker.
Would it though? Like I pointed out, the Steelers were performing just fine without Bush. Spillane had better numbers. More sacks, more tackles, more TFLs, more passes defensed, and more interceptions. I'd venture to say that losing Spillane for the last four games in conjunction with Dupree's absence was just as important as not having Bush. In fact, the start of the defense's slide seemed to coincidentally begin shortly after Spillane's injury against Washington -- when they gave up 20 points in that second half.
I'm not saying you're wrong; but, you can't compare the stats of Spillane to Bush as they didn't play in the same amount of games last season...
Had a feeling someone might use that argument, so I'll break it down through extrapolation:
True, but the difference in solo tackles (even extrapolated) is what really jumps out at me.
Robert Spillane is not Bush. If Robert Spillane is Bush, they should have an all world force unit this year. Bush covers sideline to sideline, he covers quality TE's. So many of you focus on Team defense as it pertains to individuals. Lets be clear, losing Bud is huge. no question. He is a ten plus sack guy who causes turnovers and pressure while holding the edge. That said Alex Highsmith is a good big body edge player. He will probably get 6 plus sacks and hold the edge well. If that happens and Bush is back and the one bone three dogs for the other inside linebacker turns out well, you have a pretty damn good force unit.
You can have Robert Spillane I will take Devin Bush any day and twice on Sundays. Cherry picked stats mean **** all. You need to look at film and understand assignment. Devin Bush is a premier athlete at his position. Robert Spillane is a solid try hard player.
No ****, Stevie Wonder can see that Spillane is not Bush. But you seem to have some kind of warped misconception of Bush's ability against the pass; perhaps it's you who needs to take a look at some of the film and understand that despite his speed and athleticism, Bush is simply not that great in coverage.
Meh each major injury takes away flexibility in defensive sets.... you can lose a major piece to and defense and get past it, but we lost bush then vince, alualu, both of whom returned but didn’t play well afterwards and Bud, which left them perilously thin at olb plus losing haden for the Browns... it was just too much to overcome .....
Also Most ilbs take off in their third year... i think Shazier was meh the first year and a half but a pro bowler in his third season
maybe, but he looks like Woodley did when Deebo was on the other side. If he excels this year, then he is worth the money he got.....but the Steelers knew when to let Woodley go; Bud looks similar in $ logic.
Are you trying to tell me that if the Steelers lose Watt instead of Bush, they "get past it"? Nah, bro. Watt is a major piece. Bush has yet to prove to be one.
It took Dupree quite some time to develop, so I hope you guys are right about Bush. He needs to play much better in coverage, because it's become apparent that Tomlin's defensive philosophy is what it is...it's on the player to adapt to the defense, not vice-versa.
