Pittsburgh Steelers Training Camp Primer - The Special Teams

[Galax Steeler]

With the Pittsburgh Steelers set to report to training camp on Friday, let's continue with our previews of the intriguing positional battles on both sides of the ball. This one doesn't focus on a specific offensive or defensive position, but instead on the collective play of the special teams, the third facet of the game that absolutely killed the Steelers' chances last year. Like the most recent primer about the defensive backs, this too is taken from the preseason publication I recently put together for MSP, which is available for purchase now for those who might be interested. As a bonus, Johnny S. has some information about last year's special teams play that I've included at the end of my writeup. I had originally asked him to help me gather some research about the performance of last year's ST units for the preseason publication, but ultimately was unable to use it. However, here's a good place to throw it in. Many thanks to him for the help!. - Michael Bean -

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Porous 4th quarter defense, injuries, costly turnovers, untimely sacks, inconsistent red zone efficiency - those are but a few of the reasons why the Steelers finished the 2009 season 9-7 and out of the playoffs for the first time in the Mike Tomlin era.

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