stillers4me
11-10-2013, 08:50 AM
In what must seem as though it were eons ago, or perhaps just a dream of better days gone by, Troy Polamalu spent the other day recalling a season in which the Steelers defense was not yielding big plays at an alarming clip, not like they are after just eight games of the 2013 season.
And it wasn't that long ago.
In 2011, the Steelers ranked No. 1 in the National Football League in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. They were the only team in the league to record two shutouts that season. Their pass defense was so tight, they allowed only 21 pass plays of 25 yards or longer, easily the fewest in the league. They allowed a league-low two passes of 40 yards or longer, just one longer than 50 yards (73). And they didn't allow a run longer than 42 yards.
Polamalu was standing at his locker, trying to make sense of the disparity..........
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/2013/11/10/Steelers-defense-is-dying-with-every-big-play/stories/201311100131#ixzz2kFplGfvZ
And it wasn't that long ago.
In 2011, the Steelers ranked No. 1 in the National Football League in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. They were the only team in the league to record two shutouts that season. Their pass defense was so tight, they allowed only 21 pass plays of 25 yards or longer, easily the fewest in the league. They allowed a league-low two passes of 40 yards or longer, just one longer than 50 yards (73). And they didn't allow a run longer than 42 yards.
Polamalu was standing at his locker, trying to make sense of the disparity..........
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/2013/11/10/Steelers-defense-is-dying-with-every-big-play/stories/201311100131#ixzz2kFplGfvZ