Steelers Defenders Were Unsure Of Who Was Communicating The Plays In Week 15 Loss

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their third embarrassing loss in a row in Week 15, this time at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 30-13. They dropped to 7-7, and nothing has been working on either side of the ball for the Steelers as of late. Defensively, they were torched by the Colts both through the air and on the ground despite the Colts missing their three best play-makers for the majority of the game. To make matters worse, Patrick Peterson came out after the game and made a comment that made it seem like the defense was unsure of who was communicating their plays while on the field.

Steelers' Peterson Was Unsure Of Who Wore The Green Dot

The Steelers have had many injuries on the defensive side of the ball that has affected their communication. Usually, the middle linebacker wears the green dot which is the helmet that has the communication system in it to allows the defensive coordinator to communicate the plays to the defense. It is then that players job to let the rest of the defense know what the play is and what their responsibilities are. Peterson was asked whether or not Minkah Fitzpatrick wore the green dot against the Colts prior to his injury, and he was unable to give a sure answer.

"Did he? No, last week, I know he had the green dot last week. I don't think he had it this week, honestly...I'm not sure."

This is a horrible sign for the Steelers defense. Peterson was on the field for 97 percent of the Steelers defensive plays, yet he was unable to identify who the player was that was communicating the defensive play. This makes a lot of sense, as the defense was absolutely destroyed by the Colts in the loss. The Steelers offense often times didn't put the defense in a great spot to succeed, but nonetheless the defense looked useless against the Colts who were missing three of their best offensive weapons.

To Peterson's credit, the second half of the season has been very inconsistent for the Steelers defense in terms of who is wearing the green dot week-in and week-out. The reason for that is injuries. Cole Holcomb wore the green dot for the majority of the season before he suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Tennessee Titans. After Holcomb went down, Kwon Alexander took over the responsibility of wearing the green dot, but he wound up suffering a season-ending achilles injury against the Green Bay Packers. 

Elandon Roberts wore it after Alexander suffered his season-ending injury, and is still the only healthy member of the Steelers original inside linebacker group. He has been dealing with a nagging groin injury, but overall he has been healthy and consistent. Fitzpatrick was said to have worn the green dot when Roberts had his groin injury, which is why it was suspected Fitzpatrick might have been wearing it again in Week 15. 

The reason the question was even brought up to Peterson was because Fitzpatrick sustained a knee injury in the second quarter of the game which kept him out for the remainder of the contest. The Steelers defense immediately looked worse following Fitzpatrick's exit, which is in part due to him being an excellent player as well as the possibility of him being the one communicating the defensive play calls to the rest of the unit. There was a possibility the defense looked worse after he exited because someone else had to assume responsibility of the green dot mid-game. 

It's likely that Roberts had the green dot the entire game since he was back and healthy, but the fact that one of the Steelers defensive leaders in Peterson couldn't identify who was communicating the defensive responsibilities for the entire game is extremely worrisome. Communication has been an issue for the Steelers all season, and it doesn't seem it is getting better after this fiasco. 

What do you think about Peterson's comments? Let us know in the comments below!

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