Steelers playing balancing act with defense
PITTSBURGH – The Steelers came into this season wanting to generate more pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
To this point, it has worked with the Steelers recording 14 sacks in four games, putting them on pace for 56 for the season.That would be a marked increase from the 34 they had last year.
But with that additional pressure come some risks, which were on display last Thursday in a 23-20 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field.
While the Steelers’ defense sacked Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco five times and forced bad throws on several occasions, the Ravens also rushed for 191 yards with Justin Forsett gaining 150 on 27 carries.
The pressure was part of the design for the Steelers against the Ravens, as they chose to try to take away the deep play-action passes by Flacco. The Steelers didn’t completely ignore the Ravens’ running game, but they also didn’t expect the safeties and cornerbacks to help stop it, either.
“We wanted to minimize their play-action pass,” said Tomlin. “So we went into the game knowing we might give up a little bit in the run game.
“We realized that in doing so we might expose (ourselves) to some run. We probably exposed ourselves to a little more run than we anticipated.”
That would help explain why a defense that had been good stopping the run entering the game – allowing 162 yards on 57 carries to opposing running backs in their first three games – was suddenly getting gashed for big gains. Baltimore had four runs of 10 or more yards against the Steelers, including gains of 33 and 22 yards by Forsett.
The Steelers (2-2) are intent on not making that a habit. They want to get back to stopping the run when they return to the field Monday at San Diego (2-2).
“We have to take away some of the big chunk plays,” said Steelers outside linebacker Arthur Moats. “Any time you see Forsett get a couple of chunk runs like that, it lets you know that was more on us. We’ve got to tighten that up.”
The big plays haven’t been an issue for the Steelers, who had eight tackles for losses and limited the Ravens to only one pass play of 20 yards.
The Steelers’ defense was considered a work in progress but it has made major strides.
Tomlin’s ultimate goal is for the defense to develop and not need to blitz to get to opposing quarterbacks.
“Ultimately, I believe your ability to pressure the quarterback is measured by your ability to rush with four,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t do that a lot in the game. We usually brought more than four, but that was the game plan. As we move forward, we want to establish a good, consistent rush that’s steeped in the four-man principle.”
Getting linebacker Ryan Shazier back against the Chargers would help. Shazier missed the past two games after suffering a shoulder injury Sept. 20 during a 15-tackle performance in a win over San Francisco.
Shazier was back at practice Monday and his speed from the inside linebacker position is something the Steelers have missed the past two weeks.
Shazier is still listed as questionable for the San Diego game. Much the same could be said of the Steelers’ defense as a whole, though they could return to playing more basic schemes in future games.
“Sometimes you lean more heavily on pressuring the quarterback and sometimes you don’t,” Tomlin said. “That was our mentality a week ago. I wouldn’t read too much into it.”
In addition to Shazier, Tomlin also said wide receiver Markus Wheaton (ankle) and defensive tackle Daniel McCullers (knee) could play against the Chargers. Tight end Matt Spaeth (hand) and cornerback Cortez Allen (knee) will be evaluated throughout the week in practice. … Tomlin said cornerback Ross Cockrell will continue as the nickel cornerback, even if Allen returns. … Tomlin said he was not aware of any injury to placekicker Josh Scobee, who was released Saturday after missing two field-goal attempts against the Ravens. A report surfaced over the weekend that Scobee had a quad-muscle injury.