Steelers Defenders Admit Falcons Offense Exposed Communications Issues They Thought Were Fixed

[polamalubeast]

The Atlanta Falcons’ potent, rapid-paced offense exposed a key flaw in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense that the players on the field believed earlier this summer that they had addressed and gotten a handle on.

No, it’s not the fact that everybody on the defense is mediocre or worse and they all need to be cut and the coaches need to be fired. I just wanted to nip that in the bud right off the bat.

The problem is communication, and according to those who were on the field—or on the sidelines—the Steelers defense realized going up against the Falcons on Sunday evening that they still have work to do when it comes to communicating with one another quickly and clearly.

The good news is that the problem is believed to be quite solvable. If so, then we can at least find a silver lining in the first-team defense’s performance in that game, which was, by and large, sub-par to say the least, when it comes to the passing game.

Outside linebacker Arthur Moats, who started in the first preseason game, but not against the Falcons, despite playing extensively, believes that they did some good things, but “at the same time there is room for improvement”, and he had one area in mind.


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http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/08/steelers-defenders-admit-falcons-offense-exposed-communications-issues-thought-fixed/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[polamalubeast]

The communication has been a major problem since Keith Butler is the DC.This is my biggest concern.

I do not think it was a problem under LeBeau even in the last few years.

[Steeldude]

If the defense sucks again this year Butler will be let go.

Communication problems are the fault of the coaches. How many times have we seen the Steelers defenders look completely clueless? Too many.

The reason Bellichick wins is because he has the Patriots knowing everything like the back of their hand. Say what you want about cheating or whatever, he is still winning and has absolutely no problem crushing the Steelers with ease.

[polamalubeast]

If the defense sucks again this year Butler will be let go.

Communication problems are the fault of the coaches. How many times have we seen the Steelers defenders look completely clueless? Too many.

The reason Bellichick wins is because he has the Patriots knowing everything like the back of their hand. Say what you want about cheating or whatever, he is still winning and has absolutely no problem crushing the Steelers with ease.

Remember in the first year of Butler when the steelers had sometimes only 9 or 10 players on the field!!!!

[86WARD]

If Butler goes before Smith...I swear...

[Count Steeler]

I guess the players should be using their cell phones on the field and texting each other.

[Dwinsgames]

The communication has been a major problem since Keith Butler is the DC.This is my biggest concern.

I do not think it was a problem under LeBeau even in the last few years.

I said when Butler was named DC that I was concerned about getting the plays called , while Butler may be a smart man ( he may not be I do not know ) but what I do know is he is a slow communicator and if that slow diction and demeanor translate to play calling as well the play comes in late the players have less time to change personnel and make adjustments etc ...

when I made those comments most thought it was hogwash and sour grapes about Lebeau being let go , but here we sit a couple years later and what comes creeping out ....

[polamalubeast]

I said when Butler was named DC that I was concerned about getting the plays called , while Butler may be a smart man ( he may not be I do not know ) but what I do know is he is a slow communicator and if that slow diction and demeanor translate to play calling as well the play comes in late the players have less time to change personnel and make adjustments etc ...

when I made those comments most thought it was hogwash and sour grapes about Lebeau being let go , but here we sit a couple years later and what comes creeping out ....

yeah..It was time to move on with Lebeau, but I do not know if Butler is the right man.....The defense has talent, but if communication is horrible,the talent will be wasting.

Remember when Gronk was alone at least 2-3 times against us in week 1 in 2015, it was unacceptable and the steelers has had communication problems several other times.

[Shoes]

I think the Steelers made too many promises to Butler because they hung on to Lebeau far to long. They should have interviewed as many coaches as possible.

[Mojouw]

http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/video/2014/09/28/0ap3000000401519_video_cp.jpg

It's preseason. The training camp and preseason schedule exists for exactly this reason. Personnel groupings that the Steelers will likely never see on the field again were playing extensively on Sunday.

Notice how when the more settled #3 and 4 units took the field in the second half there were almost no communication problems? Those guys have worked together before. The communication problems were with a mixed first and second string unit that had likely not had any extensive reps together in a "live fire" situation.

I mean I have to laugh sometimes around here. Y'all tend towards violent pessimism! In the game thread people were blasting the playcalls. It's preseason and the coaches don't care about winning - they want to see specific players and player groupings execute specific football tasks. Houston throwing that fade, that was specifically to see if Houston can hit the fade, not to win the game. Conner got the wheels run off him for a preseason game. That was Haley and the offensive staff probing for his ceiling and floor as an NFL player. Again, nothing to do with an actual game strategy.

On defense if Golden, Chickillo, Matakevich, and Walton are all playing at the same time - well something has gone drastically wrong on that side of the ball and the season is in doubt.

[polamalubeast]

The Communication problems with this defense often have occur in regular season or in playoffs, like the AFC title game with Butler.

I have two plays in my head where it was not acceptable


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewwzhsYweY8

and this play

764111603319046144

[Born2Steel]

Seriously? If only talking about the Falcon's game, don't you think the communication issues are understandable? Defensively, Shaz was out, Mitchell was out, Davis and Burns are only in their 2nd preseason. Does that put Cockrell calling plays and making sure everyone is where they need to be? Maybe Gay? We already know our ILB corps is a liability in coverage. We also know that if our pass rush doesn't get home fast, most NFL QBs can and will pick our secondary apart, when healthy. I definitely have my doubts about how good this defense is going to be if our pass rush isn't vastly improved. I'm not sure why communication issues are a surprise in the preseason, especially when the starters are not in the game. Plus, the defense did not "suck" last season. There were a couple of bad games, but mostly, the defense held up just fine. Room for improvement? Absolutely and constantly. Time to search for a new DC? Absolutely NOT.

[Mojouw]

The Communication problems with this defense often have occur in regular season or in playoffs, like the AFC title game with Butler.

I have two plays in my head where it was not acceptable


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewwzhsYweY8

and this play

764111603319046144

First play - Jarvis Jones, Antwon Blake, Will Allen, and Shazier were all involved in this play somehow. 3 are no longer on the roster and one is no longer a rookie. So not really sure what this play is intended to convey. Other than during the course of an NFL season and several hundred defensive snaps, stupid is going to come out. The reverse happens frequently and the Steelers catch teams being dumb.

Second play - also from the 2015 season I think. I'm going to guess that the CB pictured is Blake. This was the best way to beat the Steelers in 2015. You send 4 vertical recievers. This time it is two to each side. Looks like a safety and a CB take the ones at the top of the formation. At the bottom, I'm guessing the other safety is on a blitz or run fill. That leaves the LBs (Shazier and Timmons) alone with the CB. The CB does his job and takes the interior breaking reciever. The outside guy should have been carried down the field by either Shazier or TImmons. Looks like both broke towards the back in the flat. Of course another version of my story is that the single high safety that you only see at the end of play should've rotated onto the receiver breaking to the post and the CB should've gotten the guy running to the corner. Either way, I don't really think that a play from 2 seasons ago that involves players that are no longer on the roster is really a good indicator.

Going into the last season, the Steelers openly addressed their communication problems in the secondary with particular regard to flooding a zone with multiple WRs. That seemed to get addressed last year. Guys were in coverage, they just didn't/couldn't consistently make plays.

[polamalubeast]

Seriously? If only talking about the Falcon's game, don't you think the communication issues are understandable? Defensively, Shaz was out, Mitchell was out, Davis and Burns are only in their 2nd preseason. Does that put Cockrell calling plays and making sure everyone is where they need to be? Maybe Gay? We already know our ILB corps is a liability in coverage. We also know that if our pass rush doesn't get home fast, most NFL QBs can and will pick our secondary apart, when healthy. I definitely have my doubts about how good this defense is going to be if our pass rush isn't vastly improved. I'm not sure why communication issues are a surprise in the preseason, especially when the starters are not in the game. Plus, the defense did not "suck" last season. There were a couple of bad games, but mostly, the defense held up just fine. Room for improvement? Absolutely and constantly. Time to search for a new DC? Absolutely NOT.


2 things for the pass rush.

It's hard to put pressure on the QB when a receiver is open on 2 seconds or less ....

And, the pass rusher need to rush the quarterback, not to be in coverage.The Lebeau stuff(Fire zone,zone blitz,etc) are outdated in my opinion too






First play - Jarvis Jones, Antwon Blake, Will Allen, and Shazier were all involved in this play somehow. 3 are no longer on the roster and one is no longer a rookie. So not really sure what this play is intended to convey. Other than during the course of an NFL season and several hundred defensive snaps, stupid is going to come out. The reverse happens frequently and the Steelers catch teams being dumb.

Second play - also from the 2015 season I think. I'm going to guess that the CB pictured is Blake. This was the best way to beat the Steelers in 2015. You send 4 vertical recievers. This time it is two to each side. Looks like a safety and a CB take the ones at the top of the formation. At the bottom, I'm guessing the other safety is on a blitz or run fill. That leaves the LBs (Shazier and Timmons) alone with the CB. The CB does his job and takes the interior breaking reciever. The outside guy should have been carried down the field by either Shazier or TImmons. Looks like both broke towards the back in the flat. Of course another version of my story is that the single high safety that you only see at the end of play should've rotated onto the receiver breaking to the post and the CB should've gotten the guy running to the corner. Either way, I don't really think that a play from 2 seasons ago that involves players that are no longer on the roster is really a good indicator.

Going into the last season, the Steelers openly addressed their communication problems in the secondary with particular regard to flooding a zone with multiple WRs. That seemed to get addressed last year. Guys were in coverage, they just didn't/couldn't consistently make plays.


Good point, but it's just that in the game against the falcons, it was too easy for them when our starting defense was there, I know that Shazier and Mitchell was not there, but it was too easy like the AFC title Game and we do not want to see this during the season against the packers and the pats who are in our schedule but for now it is a concern but fortunately its games are late in the season so I hope they will be competitive against the elites competition since the steelers have too much talent in defense to not be competitive.

[Dwinsgames]

zone blitz still works just fine , the problem is finding the right players to make it effective ...

case in point in its conception a half dozen or so teams ran a 3-4 and only half of those bought into a Lebeau like system within it ...

today half the league ( or more ) runs a 3-4 and everyone is looking for those same kind of ends and same kind of OLBers ( tweeners ) strong , big guys who can run and rush the passer from 5 yards off the LOS or drop into coverage

with the same amount of those body types available and 3 times as many teams looking to scarf them up you get guys drafted in the first round that at one point could have been had in the 3rd or 4th round and guys drafted in round 3-4 that where 6th -7th rounders and often undrafted all together ... its a supply and demand thing only so many out there and x amount of teams wanting them

the system works the challenge is getting the players to make the system work well

[polamalubeast]

zone blitz still works just fine , the problem is finding the right players to make it effective ...

case in point in its conception a half dozen or so teams ran a 3-4 and only half of those bought into a Lebeau like system within it ...

today half the league ( or more ) runs a 3-4 and everyone is looking for those same kind of ends and same kind of OLBers ( tweeners ) strong , big guys who can run and rush the passer from 5 yards off the LOS or drop into coverage

with the same amount of those body types available and 3 times as many teams looking to scarf them up you get guys drafted in the first round that at one point could have been had in the 3rd or 4th round and guys drafted in round 3-4 that where 6th -7th rounders and often undrafted all together ... its a supply and demand thing only so many out there and x amount of teams wanting them

the system works the challenge is getting the players to make the system work well

The problem is very hard to make it work....The only other teams I think that run the zone blitz are the Titans and the Packers.

The jury is still out for the titans defense, but for the packers, their defense has been a disaster in the playoffs for most of the time with Dom Capers.

Big problem in the 4th quarter and overtime and in the 7 defeats of the packers with Capers in the playoffs, they allowed 36 points per game.

And they have not been in the top 10 in yards and points since the 2011 season.

[Mojouw]

The problem is very hard to make it work....The only other teams I think that run the zone blitz are the Titans and the Packers.

The jury is still out for the titans defense, but for the packers, their defense has been a disaster in the playoffs for most of the time with Dom Capers.

Big problem in the 4th quarter and overtime and in the 7 defeats of the packers with Capers in the playoffs, they allowed 36 points per game.

And they have not been in the top 10 in yards and points since the 2011 season.

This is from Wikipedia and I really don't feel like checking it, but there are 12-13 teams running a version of the 3-4 -- "As of 2017, NFL teams that regularly incorporate the 3–4 defensive alignment scheme as a base include the Green Bay Packers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers), Los Angeles Rams (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Rams), Pittsburgh Steelers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Steelers), Baltimore Ravens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Ravens), Arizona Cardinals (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Cardinals), Indianapolis Colts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_Colts), Kansas City Chiefs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Chiefs), New York Jets (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Jets), Washington Redskins (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Redskins), Denver Broncos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_Broncos), Tennessee Titans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Titans), Houston Texans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Texans), and the Chicago Bears (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Bears), who used the 3-4 as their base defense for the first time in 2015 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Chicago_Bears_season)."

It is also important to note that a base 3-4 front and "zone blitz" are not necessarily either synonyms or that it is impossible to run zone blitz concepts out of other alignments.

Additionally it is important to remember that you can "staple" a variety of coverage concepts onto the back end of equation. Cover zero through 3 if you want to run zone concepts. You can do some hybrid zone/man, or you can kinda go man coverage (fairly hard to do out of a traditional iteration of the "fire zone" concept -- but it could be done).

I think in this era of the NFL, you have to have flexibility and not be schematically "locked". I feel the Steelers are going this way. Look at who they are drafting on defense - big sideline to sideline athletes that can do a variety of things.

- - - Updated - - -

Top 10 pass defenses based on completion percentage - best quick stat I could think of. http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/passing/sort/completionPct/position/defense

4 out of 10 were base 3-4 teams that likely rely on a variety of zone-blitz concepts as an appreciable component of their scheme.

Those teams also have more talent at the outside CB and edge rusher position than the Steelers have had recently.

[43Hitman]

http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/video/2014/09/28/0ap3000000401519_video_cp.jpg

It's preseason. The training camp and preseason schedule exists for exactly this reason. Personnel groupings that the Steelers will likely never see on the field again were playing extensively on Sunday.

Notice how when the more settled #3 and 4 units took the field in the second half there were almost no communication problems? Those guys have worked together before. The communication problems were with a mixed first and second string unit that had likely not had any extensive reps together in a "live fire" situation.

I mean I have to laugh sometimes around here. Y'all tend towards violent pessimism! In the game thread people were blasting the playcalls. It's preseason and the coaches don't care about winning - they want to see specific players and player groupings execute specific football tasks. Houston throwing that fade, that was specifically to see if Houston can hit the fade, not to win the game. Conner got the wheels run off him for a preseason game. That was Haley and the offensive staff probing for his ceiling and floor as an NFL player. Again, nothing to do with an actual game strategy.

On defense if Golden, Chickillo, Matakevich, and Walton are all playing at the same time - well something has gone drastically wrong on that side of the ball and the season is in doubt.Well said. I avoid gameday threads in the pre-season because everyone expects the team to be in the mid-season form. Some of the posters are bordering on becoming unhinged. :chuckle:

[GBMelBlount]

http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/video/2014/09/28/0ap3000000401519_video_cp.jpg

It's preseason. The training camp and preseason schedule exists for exactly this reason. Personnel groupings that the Steelers will likely never see on the field again were playing extensively on Sunday.


This.

All I care about is making the playoffs and our D playing well enough at THAT point, to win another lombardi.

[Born2Steel]

2 things for the pass rush.

It's hard to put pressure on the QB when a receiver is open on 2 seconds or less ....

And, the pass rusher need to rush the quarterback, not to be in coverage.The Lebeau stuff(Fire zone,zone blitz,etc) are outdated in my opinion too








Good point, but it's just that in the game against the falcons, it was too easy for them when our starting defense was there, I know that Shazier and Mitchell was not there, but it was too easy like the AFC title Game and we do not want to see this during the season against the packers and the pats who are in our schedule but for now it is a concern but fortunately its games are late in the season so I hope they will be competitive against the elites competition since the steelers have too much talent in defense to not be competitive.

http://insidethepylon.com/film-study/film-study-nfl/defense-film-study-nfl/2014/09/10/understanding-pass-defenses/

Some quick check pass defense 101 reading.

[fansince'76]

If Butler goes before Smith...I swear...

The STs are actually looking pretty good so far.

[steel striker]

It's pre season I'm willing to see what the defense looks like before we hit the panic button. Let's face it most team s have problems with Pats, ATL, Packers.

[Hawkman]

The STs are actually looking pretty good so far.

So far they are looking like more of a positive asset, as opposed to a liability.

[polamalubeast]

The STs are actually looking pretty good so far.

The special teams was the reason of our win sunday.

[Craic]

It's pre season I'm willing to see what the defense looks like before we hit the panic button. Let's face it most team s have problems with Pats, ATL, Packers.

As I've always said, you can't truly get a handle on a team until after the fourth game of the season provided they don't dig themselves into too deep of a hole. That's when teams start to hit their stride and separation between the good and bad teams start.

[polamalubeast]

It will be a disappointment if the steelers does not start the season 3-0.

The Browns and Bears are not very good and the vikings, not a bad team but this game is at home.

[st33lersguy]

Communication problems have been an issue for far too long. They need to have it squared away come playoff time

[tube517]

Remember in the first year of Butler when the steelers had sometimes only 9 or 10 players on the field!!!!

They left Gronk wide open in that 2015 Season Opener vs the Cheats**

[polamalubeast]

They left Gronk wide open in that 2015 Season Opener vs the Cheats**


It was embarrassing

The lack of communication has never been a problem with LeBeau and in the other games I watch in the NFL, I do not remember to see a team having a lack of communication as bad as it was with Butler in 2015.

Some will say that it was because Butler was his first year with us as DC, but no, the communication is not supposed to be bad like that.Fortunately it was a bit better in 2016 ...

[Mojouw]

It was embarrassing, but there is similar examples of piss poor communication all the time in the NFL. Guys get left wide open by teams on a weekly basis. Teams field too few or too many guys on a weekly basis. Guys line up in the wrong coverages. Run the wrong routes, block the wrong protection etc etc.

You just notice it more when it happens to the team you follow.

You gotta remember, that most of the players are freak athletes but basically morons. Most coaches are former players.

These are not the best and brightest we are dealing with here.

[polamalubeast]

It is true that it happens for every teams a blow coverage and things like that, but it is only if we compare with Lebeau,the communication was not a major problem, even in the last few years when our defense was old and bad.

And this is against a hurry-up / No-huddle offense, that's where we see that the communication is a problem. But we must say that the steelers admit to being surprised that the pats have been with the no-huddle!

I was not surprised by the strategy by the pats because they have often done that, especially against us, but the coaches and players of the steelers were surprised, but that's another topic!