First in a five-part daily series previewing the Steelers’ training camp:
Defense is about takeaways and pressure. Forget yards allowed as a measurement of dominant defense. Flipping the field by pressuring the quarterback into a bad throw, or jarring the ball loose and recovering the fumble is the modern way to do it.
Defenses have to do it. Quarterbacks are better prepared and receive more coaching than they did even 10 years ago, and defensive backs are more restricted in terms of contact down the field than they used to be.
It’s harder to defend receivers, so stopping the guy delivering the football becomes critical. The new brand of defense is the same as the offense: It starts and ends with, or on, the quarterback.
In 2010, the Steelers terrorized quarterbacks. They bashed, bludgeoned and bloodied them. They took the ball from them, sometimes through interceptions, sometimes by smashing into their backsides until they gave the ball up as a means of self-defense.
That hasn’t happened much since then.
The Steelers led the league with 48 sacks that year, and grabbed 21 interceptions. It took the Steelers another two years – 32 full games – to get another 21 interceptions. They haven’t had more than 37 sacks in a season since then either.
Clearly, it was noticed on the South Side. The Steelers used their last three first round picks on defensive front seven players – Jarvis Jones in 2013, Ryan Shazier in 2014 and this spring, Bud Dupree. The team hasn’t gone on one side of the ball with three consecutive first round picks since 2004-06 when they landed Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller and Santonio Holmes. Until 2014, they hadn’t taken defensive players in consecutive years in the Kevin Colbert Era.
The goal?
Get to the passer.
That plan may begin to bear fruit in 2015. Dick LeBeau was let go this offseason and Keith Butler will lead the refurbished unit. Helping him in that task is first-year outside linebackers coach Joey Porter. He served as a defensive assistant in 2014, and Butler’s linebackers coaching position was split between inside (coached by Jerry Olsavsky) and outside.
“He’s a great, intense coach,” Dupree said of Porter during minicamp. “He used to be a player, too, so he knows what it takes…the people who have been here a long time say they are learning more from just being with Coach Porter.”
Butler’s been mum as far as any schematic changes, except for a slight reveal in which he said he’d like the defensive ends to push up the field more often. Cam Heyward, the recipient of a $59 million contract extension and the team’s best pass rusher, moved inside often on passing downs in 2014. It was from that spot, not his 5-technique position in the Steelers’ base defense, that Heyward rushed on many of his 7.5 sacks.
The maturation of Heyward as the leader of the defense entering his prime combines with the brute strength of Stephon Tuitt – the latter showed at the end of the season he’s moving in a similar direction as the former.
“We’ve got to use those draft choices in those front seven, not only the linebackers but Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt,” Butler told us in June. “Those guys are talented. We will use them too. We can’t let them always take up for the linebackers or try to take people on for the linebackers. We have to let them play football, too.”
One major question mark is Jones. He’s the opposite of Dupree in terms of athleticism, but he has a keen sense of awareness on the field. The Steelers wanted to utilize his ability in coverage last season before a wrist injury forced him out of the lineup from the second half of Week 3 through Week 13.
Jones was lined up over Panthers’ Kelvin Benjamin when he was in the slot during that Week 3 game. That’s asking quite a bit of Jones, but the fact they gave it a chance shows the Steelers have confidence in his development in coverage.
Such a tactic would provide more pass-rushing opportunities for Heyward and Tuitt. If Jones is covering the flats, the Steelers could conceivably rush Heyward and Tuitt inside and have Shazier or Lawrence Timmons rush off their outside shoulders.
This is the kind of athletic versatility the team lacked during the sacks blackout period from 2011-14. Continued use of Heyward in the A and B gaps with the athleticism the Steelers have added along their front seven should result in an increase in pressure and hits on the quarterback. As a result, their takeaways should increase as well.
The Steelers got seven takeaways in their final four regular season games, all wins, at a time their offense slowed down from the frenetic pace it was on at midseason. It was at this point the Steelers seized control of their playoff fate and eventually took the division.
And it wasn’t all on their powerful offense. They’ll get most of that same group back right from the start of 2015.
The addition of Tuitt to the Week 1 starting lineup is a boost in terms of explosiveness compared to Brett Keisel from last year. A healthy, experienced Shazier makes the combination of himself and Timmons one of the faster, more explosive inside linebacker combinations in the NFL.
“He’s picking up the defense,” Timmons said of Shazier during minicamp. “Coming into the NFL your first year is tough. I think we are starting to see what he can do, and I can’t wait to see more of his growth.”
The interior will be stronger as well. A healthy Steve McLendon is a productive one, and the potential Dan McCullers showed in limited action in 2014 suggests the Steelers have a strong utility defensive lineman behind McLendon and Heyward and Tuitt.
The team has made the investment in the personnel. Starting with the first drills in training camp, those players have to prove their worth as individuals as well as a unit.
Jarvis Jones is aiming for a first fully healthy, productive NFL season. -- GETTY
July 20, 2015
Camp preview: Ending the Steelers’ sack-out
by Neal Coolong • Coverage • Steelers
First in a five-part daily series previewing the Steelers’ training camp:
Defense is about takeaways and pressure. Forget yards allowed as a measurement of dominant defense. Flipping the field by pressuring the quarterback into a bad throw, or jarring the ball loose and recovering the fumble is the modern way to do it.
Defenses have to do it. Quarterbacks are better prepared and receive more coaching than they did even 10 years ago, and defensive backs are more restricted in terms of contact down the field than they used to be.
It’s harder to defend receivers, so stopping the guy delivering the football becomes critical. The new brand of defense is the same as the offense: It starts and ends with, or on, the quarterback.
In 2010, the Steelers terrorized quarterbacks. They bashed, bludgeoned and bloodied them. They took the ball from them, sometimes through interceptions, sometimes by smashing into their backsides until they gave the ball up as a means of self-defense.
That hasn’t happened much since then.
The Steelers led the league with 48 sacks that year, and grabbed 21 interceptions. It took the Steelers another two years – 32 full games – to get another 21 interceptions. They haven’t had more than 37 sacks in a season since then either.
Clearly, it was noticed on the South Side. The Steelers used their last three first round picks on defensive front seven players – Jarvis Jones in 2013, Ryan Shazier in 2014 and this spring, Bud Dupree. The team hasn’t gone on one side of the ball with three consecutive first round picks since 2004-06 when they landed Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller and Santonio Holmes. Until 2014, they hadn’t taken defensive players in consecutive years in the Kevin Colbert Era.
The goal?
Get to the passer.
That plan may begin to bear fruit in 2015. Dick LeBeau was let go this offseason and Keith Butler will lead the refurbished unit. Helping him in that task is first-year outside linebackers coach Joey Porter. He served as a defensive assistant in 2014, and Butler’s linebackers coaching position was split between inside (coached by Jerry Olsavsky) and outside.
“He’s a great, intense coach,” Dupree said of Porter during minicamp. “He used to be a player, too, so he knows what it takes…the people who have been here a long time say they are learning more from just being with Coach Porter.”
Butler’s been mum as far as any schematic changes, except for a slight reveal in which he said he’d like the defensive ends to push up the field more often. Cam Heyward, the recipient of a $59 million contract extension and the team’s best pass rusher, moved inside often on passing downs in 2014. It was from that spot, not his 5-technique position in the Steelers’ base defense, that Heyward rushed on many of his 7.5 sacks.
The maturation of Heyward as the leader of the defense entering his prime combines with the brute strength of Stephon Tuitt – the latter showed at the end of the season he’s moving in a similar direction as the former.
“We’ve got to use those draft choices in those front seven, not only the linebackers but Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt,” Butler told us in June. “Those guys are talented. We will use them too. We can’t let them always take up for the linebackers or try to take people on for the linebackers. We have to let them play football, too.”
One major question mark is Jones. He’s the opposite of Dupree in terms of athleticism, but he has a keen sense of awareness on the field. The Steelers wanted to utilize his ability in coverage last season before a wrist injury forced him out of the lineup from the second half of Week 3 through Week 13.
Jones was lined up over Panthers’ Kelvin Benjamin when he was in the slot during that Week 3 game. That’s asking quite a bit of Jones, but the fact they gave it a chance shows the Steelers have confidence in his development in coverage.
Such a tactic would provide more pass-rushing opportunities for Heyward and Tuitt. If Jones is covering the flats, the Steelers could conceivably rush Heyward and Tuitt inside and have Shazier or Lawrence Timmons rush off their outside shoulders.
This is the kind of athletic versatility the team lacked during the sacks blackout period from 2011-14. Continued use of Heyward in the A and B gaps with the athleticism the Steelers have added along their front seven should result in an increase in pressure and hits on the quarterback. As a result, their takeaways should increase as well.
The Steelers got seven takeaways in their final four regular season games, all wins, at a time their offense slowed down from the frenetic pace it was on at midseason. It was at this point the Steelers seized control of their playoff fate and eventually took the division.
And it wasn’t all on their powerful offense. They’ll get most of that same group back right from the start of 2015.
The addition of Tuitt to the Week 1 starting lineup is a boost in terms of explosiveness compared to Brett Keisel from last year. A healthy, experienced Shazier makes the combination of himself and Timmons one of the faster, more explosive inside linebacker combinations in the NFL.
“He’s picking up the defense,” Timmons said of Shazier during minicamp. “Coming into the NFL your first year is tough. I think we are starting to see what he can do, and I can’t wait to see more of his growth.”
The interior will be stronger as well. A healthy Steve McLendon is a productive one, and the potential Dan McCullers showed in limited action in 2014 suggests the Steelers have a strong utility defensive lineman behind McLendon and Heyward and Tuitt.
The team has made the investment in the personnel. Starting with the first drills in training camp, those players have to prove their worth as individuals as well as a unit.