Riddle me this

[antdrewjosh]

According to Pro Football Focus Elite, the Steelers play less man coverage than any team in the NFL and it isn’t close, around 10 percentile points below the next closest team at just over 10 percent of their defensive snaps.

Ok folks what do you think. Surprising to say the least. Alot of people have complained about us playing so much zone. But here we are 7 weeks in and no 1 against the pass apparently without much change in scheme. Just adding Haden and Hilton with the added growing up by Burns and Davis. Going to be interesting to see if more man is played especially against you know who. Also cant discount the pass rush element. We are second in the NFL in sacks with 24.

 

[wig]

Better pressure up front means better coverage in the 2ndary.

However Brady is the best at getting rid of the ball immediately. If you don't bump their receivers at the line, he'll eat you up ALL DAY LONG. It won't matter if the Steelers are all world at zone pass defense. There are still holes. They have GOT to knock guys off those routes and give the front 3 / 4 a chance to put pressure on Brady. Otherwise it's going to be the same story all over again.

 

[SCSteeler4life]

According to Pro Football Focus Elite, the Steelers play less man coverage than any team in the NFL and it isn’t close, around 10 percentile points below the next closest team at just over 10 percent of their defensive snaps.

Ok folks what do you think. Surprising to say the least. Alot of people have complained about us playing so much zone. But here we are 7 weeks in and no 1 against the pass apparently without much change in scheme. Just adding Haden and Hilton with the added growing up by Burns and Davis. Going to be interesting to see if more man is played especially against you know who. Also cant discount the pass rush element. We are second in the NFL in sacks with 24.

The pressure up front combined with the additions in the secondary have fixed our issues. If our offense will get out of it's on way we should have a good run this year.

 

[stillwright]

Wait until we play the Pats then ask me.

 

[antdrewjosh]

Im honestly surprised with that low percentage myself. Things have looked so much tighter back there.

 

[Coryea]

Like I said before, this week will tell me more about our pass defense. It's not really going to matter until we play NE and see how that goes. The way teams have beaten them and challenged them is man coverage with pressure. Man coverage with no pressure won't work and zone coverage with pressure won't work.

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[steel dino]

According to Pro Football Focus Elite, the Steelers play less man coverage than any team in the NFL and it isn’t close, around 10 percentile points below the next closest team at just over 10 percent of their defensive snaps.

Ok folks what do you think. Surprising to say the least. Alot of people have complained about us playing so much zone. But here we are 7 weeks in and no 1 against the pass apparently without much change in scheme. Just adding Haden and Hilton with the added growing up by Burns and Davis. Going to be interesting to see if more man is played especially against you know who. Also cant discount the pass rush element. We are second in the NFL in sacks with 24.

this just proves the point ...that personnel dictates performance more than scheme..

 

[Hines57]

I've noticed a lot of zone D. Remember we don't get to see the whole field live on tv. I see our OLBs dropping back into zone and against the Chiefs we had Watt playing spy in the middle of the field against Smith. I believe we are best when we bring our OLBs and collapse the pocket.

Where we have been beat has been zone in the middle of the field. A lot of those plays take time to develop and if we applied more pressure the QB will make more mistakes or get sacked.

 

[Coryea]

this just proves the point ...that personnel dictates performance more than scheme..

Or that we haven't played any legit passing threats

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[antdrewjosh]

Or that we haven't played any legit passing threats

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That didnt matter before. Scrubs turned into Dan Marino against us. Not happening now. Step in the right direction for me

 

[Coryea]

That didnt matter before. Scrubs turned into Dan Marino against us. Not happening now. Step in the right direction for me

I totally agree, I guess I'm just cautiously optimistic.

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[bigben]

The best QB we have played is Alex Smith.
I was confident last year too, Thought we were the stronger team. Then Bell went out and Butler rolled out his junior Varsity defense. We could shutout the pats 38-0 in December. I still wouldn't be confident going into a playoff matchup against Bellichek and Brady. No matter what the outcome of the regular season game, we will be underdogs in Vegas against the Pats in the playoffs, even at home.

 

[nitsuj1225]

I don't think it's a coincidence Uncle Jarvis is replaced with a much superior pass rusher in Watt and the pass D improves. The zone system is dependent on getting to the QB. Give any QB in this league 7-10 seconds to throw the ball and someone is bound to get open, no matter who the dbacks or opposing QB are. We're finally consistently getting to the QB again so the zone D can flourish.

I am surprised the number is so low since it seems like with the addition to Haden, we have the personnel to run more man. It would be nice to see more of a balance since it would create more unpredictability and potentially lead to more turnovers.

However, I don't care if we run zone every play the rest of the season as long as we play the majority of snaps in man to man against the cheating ********.

 

[Coach]

According to Pro Football Focus Elite, the Steelers play less man coverage than any team in the NFL and it isn’t close, around 10 percentile points below the next closest team at just over 10 percent of their defensive snaps.

Ok folks what do you think. Surprising to say the least. Alot of people have complained about us playing so much zone. But here we are 7 weeks in and no 1 against the pass apparently without much change in scheme. Just adding Haden and Hilton with the added growing up by Burns and Davis. Going to be interesting to see if more man is played especially against you know who. Also cant discount the pass rush element. We are second in the NFL in sacks with 24.

I guess when you have a top pass rush, and guys with ball skills to intercept or deflect ( Watt, Shazier, Burns, Haden, Hiton ) combined with a very bad bunch of QB's faced, there is less of a need to play man.

What I can say is the zone played this season doesn't seem to offer 7-10 cushions. This large cushion business combined with an average pass rush is a recipe to get sliced apart.

I am comfortable letting Burns play deep man, and Haden play short to medium man. We can do it if needed.

 

[Coryea]

No matter what look at the change from last year:
Burns and Davis year 2.
Haden for Cockrell huge upgrade.
Watt over Jones, huge upgrade.
Dupree over Moats is a big upgrade imo.
The Dline all another year wiser and Alu very good addition.

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[antdrewjosh]

Here is a question if we continue to do well doing what we are doing now do we switch against NE??

 

[Steelr4evr]

According to Pro Football Focus Elite, the Steelers play less man coverage than any team in the NFL and it isn’t close, around 10 percentile points below the next closest team at just over 10 percent of their defensive snaps.

Ok folks what do you think. Surprising to say the least. Alot of people have complained about us playing so much zone. But here we are 7 weeks in and no 1 against the pass apparently without much change in scheme. Just adding Haden and Hilton with the added growing up by Burns and Davis. Going to be interesting to see if more man is played especially against you know who. Also cant discount the pass rush element. We are second in the NFL in sacks with 24.

I'm not sure what others wrote but it boils down to simple things in zone and zone blitzing. You need great linebackers who can cover, a stud NT, relentless pass rush and at least 1 shut down corner. That pass rush makes your secondary look great. Now if we don't get a pass rush that zone gets picked apart.See pats***** of course knowing our entire system inside and out, all of the plays,calls,formations..ect helps immensely.


The trick is not to be a one trick pony. You will need to play more man against teams who stuff the pass rush and paper cut you to death with that west coast ****. It's your only option now. You used to be able to smash mother ******* over the middle or hit the qb. Now you can't do either.

 

[Steeltime]

Zone allows defenders to keep their eyes on the QB and break as soon as the pass is thrown. It also tends to minimize long passes, since once again, the safety is eyeing the receiver and can provide support.

However, as others have noted, the problem with zone is that if a CB has the short ("curl") zone on the left, and is 5 yards off the receiver, then there is no way to stop a quick completion, and a good tackle is necessary to keep the gain at 5 yards. One missed tackle, and the safety with deep zone gets the receiver after a 10+ yard gain.

Now, the Steelers have had Haden play curl zone and he is right on the receiver's chest. He gets the safety help 2-high or 3-high, so he can challenge the short pass. Burns tends to play less curl zone, up on the receiver.

The real matchup problem is the TE, middle of the field. The 2-high zone leaves the strong-side LB'er (Sam) to try and cover the TE, middle, but he has to take care of quite a bit of room, and the TE can repeatedly put the defender behind him, leading to relatively easy completions generating 7-10 yards. Further, if the safeties are occupied with the WR's and the TE plays slot, the matchup can be very advantageous to the offense, unless the defense has a very good nickel corner or safety.

If the zone goes single-high to have a S take care of the TE, then that leaves one WR singled up on a CB, and the CB almost has to give the WR room - the dreaded "cushion."

How to cure the issues? As the Steelers have discussed repeatedly, make sure the defenders are on the same page, know exactly where help will be or not be, know which receiver becomes his responsibility in the zone, and make the QB hold the ball for more than 2.5 seconds. When the clock reaches 3.0 seconds, the pass rushers are going to get there.

 

[slashsteel]

All about adjustments and mixing things up and executing in the process.

If they can get pressure in a similar fashion as they have so far. And the coverage remains better than previous units.. And Martavis pulls his head out of his ***. They could pull a upset.

Some man some zone some pass some run mix mix mix....

They have to have that aggressive KC approach.

Not impossible, that mindset has to be of focus not intimidation. Even if the game starts off slow not in the Steelers favor.

 

[Coryea]

Here's the thing when facing NE.
We have to tell Vince, sorry your not playing much today.
You have to use Hargrave as much as possible and 3 DLinemen as much as possible. You can not allow Brady to step up in the pocket, pressure in his face kills him, that's how Houston kept it close last year.
Vince off, you use Watt, Shazier, Dupree. If we are in a 2DL-4LB set vs them, you might as well just shut the game off, we won't stop them.
It's basically a 3-3-5, and you need to play mostly man vs them, that's how Jets, Giants, Ravens, and Falcons for a half beat them in the past.

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[Stryker]

Can't wait until we beat the Pats.

"We got lucky"
"No way they do that in the playoffs"

No need to post Coach...

 

[Drink IRON City]

Better pressure up front means better coverage in the 2ndary.

However Brady is the best at getting rid of the ball immediately. If you don't bump their receivers at the line, he'll eat you up ALL DAY LONG. It won't matter if the Steelers are all world at zone pass defense. There are still holes. They have GOT to knock guys off those routes and give the front 3 / 4 a chance to put pressure on Brady. Otherwise it's going to be the same story all over again.

Wig, I might add that getting some (5,318,243) hits on t*mmyb*y would help too. PULP





Salute the nation

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Zone is always better, until it's not. Meaning, you should stick with zone until a team starts carving it up, then you go man or a hybrid coverage.

My problem is sticking with zone when a team is crushing it, That has been the problem.

So far who have the steelers faced that can exploit them? Browns, Vikes Case Keenum, Bears, Ravens with most of their WRs injured, Jags, Chiefs and Bengals.

Bengals are without John Ross and Eifert and their OL is in shambles so they were no threat aside from AJ Green.

Chiefs are the only good passing team they faced and their main targets are Tyreek Hill, Kelce, and the RBs. You aren't going to play man on Kelce because there's nobody who can play him man to man, that's the point of a great receiving TE, too fast for LBs, too big for DBs. Zone is the way to go against the Chiefs.


Part of the steelers zone issues has been lack of talent. Joe Haden is able to patrol a much larger zone than Ross Cockrell. Sean Davis and Artie Burns are getting better all the time so there are fewer blown coverages.

The chiefs shut down the pats by dropping 8 in coverage much of the time. The Steelers may be able to do the same because they have greatly upgraded both the coverage ability of the DBs and the pass rush ability without blitzing.

Today, my plan would be to come out in zone against the Pats but also have a Plan B ready to go where you play man against them or at least a hybrid. Maybe Haden or Hilton goes man against Hogan, a safety helps over the top of Cooks and they bracket Gronk. The key is that you make the windows small so Brady has to make tough throws and go through reads so the pressure gets him

It would also help to put up 40 on the Pats ****** defense

 

[nitsuj1225]

Zone is always better, until it's not. Meaning, you should stick with zone until a team starts carving it up, then you go man or a hybrid coverage.

My problem is sticking with zone when a team is crushing it, That has been the problem.

So far who have the steelers faced that can exploit them? Browns, Vikes Case Keenum, Bears, Ravens with most of their WRs injured, Jags, Chiefs and Bengals.

Bengals are without John Ross and Eifert and their OL is in shambles so they were no threat aside from AJ Green.

Chiefs are the only good passing team they faced and their main targets are Tyreek Hill, Kelce, and the RBs. You aren't going to play man on Kelce because there's nobody who can play him man to man, that's the point of a great receiving TE, too fast for LBs, too big for DBs. Zone is the way to go against the Chiefs.


Part of the steelers zone issues has been lack of talent. Joe Haden is able to patrol a much larger zone than Ross Cockrell. Sean Davis and Artie Burns are getting better all the time so there are fewer blown coverages.

The chiefs shut down the pats by dropping 8 in coverage much of the time. The Steelers may be able to do the same because they have greatly upgraded both the coverage ability of the DBs and the pass rush ability without blitzing.

Today, my plan would be to come out in zone against the Pats but also have a Plan B ready to go where you play man against them or at least a hybrid. Maybe Haden or Hilton goes man against Hogan, a safety helps over the top of Cooks and they bracket Gronk. The key is that you make the windows small so Brady has to make tough throws and go through reads so the pressure gets him

It would also help to put up 40 on the Pats ****** defense

This. You can't come into a game against the Pats with only 1 gameplan. They will adjust to plan A so you better have a plan B. We have never had a plan B against them and we all see how those games have turned out. Mixing up zone and man is the best way to keep them off balance so they can't make those adjustments.

But regarding the O, we haven't even put up 30 yet let alone 40 so not holding my breathe there.

 

[slashsteel]

Plus the Pats are without their top inside guy. So that changes how they scheme on O.

I would still mix it up but Haden is playing zone really well. As mentioned others are improving.

So far I like what I am seeing.