Steelers 2017 Defense Currently Rivals 2008 Unit Entering Week 8

[polamalubeast]

In case you haven’t noticed by now, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense has played very well as the team creeps closer to the midway point of their 2017 regular season. A few people who have noticed that have asked if there’s a chance that this year’s defense could potential rival the Steelers 2008 unit, which is easily referred to as the best one that head coach Mike Tomlin has ever had since arriving in 2007. The short answer to that question is yes, but with that said, the 2017 unit will still need to tighten up a little bit more in a few a few phases of their overall play over the course of their next nine games in order to possibly be considered the best one in the Tomlin era.

Below, I have a table of several key defensive stats through the first seven games played of both the 2008 and 2017 Steelers defenses that I like to use to compare units and I’m sure that none of them are new to any of you reading this post.

When looking at these different statistical categories you’ll notice that the Steelers 2017 defense is better than the 2008 defense when it comes to 3rd down conversion rates allowed, yards per pass attempt allowed, adjusted net yards per pass attempt allowed, and successful pass play rates allowed and that really is quite impressive.

The Steelers 2008 defense, however, allowed far less explosive plays of 20 yards or more and allowed a much lower yard per rush average through their first seven games of that regular season. That 2008 Steelers defense also registered one more sack than the 2017 defense through seven regular season games played and allowed slightly less points per game. However, for all practical purposes, the two defenses are on par with each other in those two statistical categories and both units registered 10 total turnovers through seven regular season games played as well. Additionally, the successful run play rate allowed by both units are very close.

Now, the 2017 Steelers defense being way behind the 2008 unit in average rushing yards per carry allowed is very easy to explain and all you need to do is look at the explosive plays allowed. The Steelers 2008 defense only allowed 11 plays of 20 yards or more in their first seven regular season games that year and all of them were pass plays. The 2017 Steelers defense, on the other hand, has allowed 20 plays of 20 yards or more through seven games played and 7 of those were runs that averaged 39.3 yards.


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http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/10/steelers-2017-defense-currently-rivals-2008-unit-entering-week-8/



Stat Category Through 7 Games Played

2008 Defense 2017 Defense


3rd Down Conversion Rate Allowed 35.3 33.7
Yards Per Rush Allowed 2.83 4.68
Total Sacks 25 24
Total Turnovers 10 10
20+ Yard Plays Allowed 11 20
Defensive Points Allowed 14.1 14.7
Yards Per Pass Attempt Allowed 5.7 5.6
Adjusted Net Yards Per Pass Attempt 3.8 3.5
Successful Run Play Rate Allowed 33.5 35.3
Successful Pass Play Rate Allowed 40.1 38.8



Game

2008 QBs Faced 2017 Qbs Faced


1 Matt Schaub DeShone Kizer
2 Derek Anderson Case Keenum
3 Donovan McNabb Mike Glennon
4 Joe Flacco Joe Flacco
5 David Garrard Blake Bortles
6 Ryan Fitzpatrick Alex Smith
7 Eli Manning Andy Dalton

[DesertSteel]

Run defense is the glaring difference.

[tube517]

Run defense is the glaring difference.

Yep.

Which ties into splash plays (20+yards).

Points allowed per game is not far off, though.

Arrow is pointing up. Hope they keep it going to get a 7th Lombardi and in the coming years.

[Born2Steel]

Run defense is the glaring difference.

That and 20+ yards plays allowed.

[Count Steeler]

I wonder what the ranking is in opposing offenses between the 2 years. Not to demean our current D, but we haven't exactly played against offensive juggernauts this year.

[polamalubeast]

I certainly did not expect the pass defense to be that good for the first half of the season (Of course the addition of Haden helped)but I knew that this defense could surprise many people before the season begins.

I did not agree during the off season when some thought that this defense needed at least half of a season before this unit play above average.

Last year in our winning streak, this defense started to play to a high level and this year, with the addition of Watt and Haden, this defense is even better.

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I wonder what the ranking is in opposing offenses between the 2 years. Not to demean our current D, but we haven't exactly played against offensive juggernauts this year.

Chiefs have a top 3 scoring offense and the steelers have almost given nothing against them.

13 points against us and in the other 6 games, the chiefs scored at least 27 points in every game.

[slippy]

yes the D is looking good. much improved from last year and Joe Hayden looks to be a steal.

...but it's way too early for these kinds of discussions.

[Hawkman]

yes the D is looking good. much improved from last year and Joe Hayden looks to be a steal.

...but it's way too early for these kinds of discussions.

Are you kidding........on the board it's never too early to discuss........anything.:chuckle:

[Craic]

Of the two, I'd rather be weaker in the run than the pass. We've seen the pass move the ball down the field in a minute or two for winning scores. That doesn't happen so much with the run. Sure, we've had a big run in OT against us, but looking past this year and out over the entire league, the pass is much more dangerous to pull out last minute wins.

[Edman]

I wonder what the ranking is in opposing offenses between the 2 years. Not to demean our current D, but we haven't exactly played against offensive juggernauts this year.

The Defense went into Kansas City, who was undefeated, Alex Smith in MVP conversation, against the highest scoring team in the league with Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill, and shut them down.

I think the D is pretty legit until proven otherwise.

[FrancoLambert]

It's hard to single out the one "position" that's mostly responsible for the dramatic improvement.
An argument can be made for each sub-unit.

For me, I always look to the trenches first. Heyward, Tuitt, Hargrave, and Alualu are getting the job done up front.
Then you have Shazier and Watt making plays at the second level with Bud seemingly rounding into form.
Then you have 2 corners, neither of which is being repeatedly picked on. Our corners can cover. (see the Cockrell tapes, but oh, I forgot, Burns can't tackle)
Then you have a young, smart, hard-hitting safety that makes plays in the back end. (No, not Mitchell)
And tying it all together, it now seems that Butler has a good feel for his players and how to best utilize them.

[DesertSteel]

I think that the addition of Haden can’t be understated.

[Edman]

I'd definitely agree that the Defense is much better being weaker against the run than the pass. How many times did we not see the Steelers be dominant against the run, but was brutalized by any above average passing game? Brees, Rodgers, and Brady absolutely shredded them.

It wasn't James White or Dion Lewis who brutalized the Steelers in last years AFCC. It was Tom Brady and his nobody receivers who killed them. As we've seen dozens of times, its tougher to stop a red-hot QB than a great running game.

[polamalubeast]

Yes, and the only thing that is important for the run defense is not to be horrible

We must admit that this defense was horrible against the run against the bears and the jaguars, but they are much better since.

[Mojouw]

Speed kills. This defense oozes it at every position. Tomlin has been trying to put together a sideline to sideline defense since he got here. Now he has it.

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

Speed kills. This defense oozes it at every position. Tomlin has been trying to put together a sideline to sideline defense since he got here. Now he has it. Yep agreed the speed is the main factor.

[Count Steeler]

Steelers 2008: Offensive rank of opponent at end of season.

Houston Texans (17)
Cleveland Browns (31)
Philadelphia Eagles (6)
Baltimore Ravens (11)
Jacksonville Jaguars (24)
Cincinnati Bengals (32)
NY Giants (3)

Steelers 2017: Offensive rank of opponent at end of last week.
Cleveland Browns (30)
Minnesota Vikings (15)
Chicago Bears (24)
Baltimore Ravens (8)
Jacksonville Jaguars (5)
Kansas City Chiefs (2)
Cincinnati Bengals (31)

Nothing glaringly different.

Other questions: Why are the Ravens a better ranked offense than us so far this year? Browns and Bengals are consistent. Jags have turned it around.

[ALLD]

Would be nice to have a defense comparable to the 1976 Steelers. In last 9 games they pitched (5) shutouts and allowed a total of 28 points. Probably the best in NFL history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Pittsburgh_Steelers_season

[Edman]

The Defense gave up over 400 yards passing against Matthew Stafford and the Lions...

But only allowed 15 points and not a single touchdown.

Someone will cry and bitch about the Defense tonight, but this was probably one of the best games they played all season.

[st33lersguy]

The Defense gave up over 400 yards passing against Matthew Stafford and the Lions...

But only allowed 15 points and not a single touchdown.

Someone will cry and bitch about the Defense tonight, but this was probably one of the best games they played all season.

John Facenda once said "Great teams aren't always great, they're just great when they have to be". Not happy with the yardage, but they stepped up when it matters and the team wouldn't have won without them stepping up when it mattered

[pepsyman1]

I love the fact that they didn't give up a touchdown. I have 2 problems with this defense right now. The first isn't the players, it's the scheme. Butler is doing the same thing as LeBeau, playing very soft at the corners, the catch itself is rarely contested as they keep everything in front of them BUT the 2008 team could TACKLE the catch. These guys don't...yet. We are missing lots of tackles. I would like to see the cushion on the corners reduced, mix in SOME bump and run coverage when we bringing people to get to the QB and in general be aggressive. We play passive on too high a percentage of the plays.

[teegre]

Stafford was placing the ball perfectly in dead spots in the zone coverage. But, when pressured (which didn’t happen as often as I had hoped) he almost threw two INTs to Shazier and three INTs to Watt.

A little more pressure, and this defense will be on its way.

[Count Steeler]

Stafford was placing the ball perfectly in dead spots in the zone coverage. But, when pressured (which didn’t happen as often as I had hoped) he almost threw two INTs to Shazier and three INTs to Watt.

A little more pressure, and this defense will be on its way.

This is what is concerning. Detroit was supposedly down to their 3rd string RT and Dupree was off the sheet for pressures/sacks/etc. I hope Tuitt is healthy very soon. I can never figure out why we can't exploit opponents weaknesses. Eg. "Steelers are playing the worst rushing defense this week". Well you can almost guarantee we don't put over 100 yards rushing on the board against said opponent. Last night, the Lions line was patchwork, we get 2 sacks?

[Steeldude]

I wonder what the ranking is in opposing offenses between the 2 years. Not to demean our current D, but we haven't exactly played against offensive juggernauts this year.

Yep

[Drazo85]

We often forget that others teams are playing as well. They game plan as well. Detroit was off last week, so they had a extra week to prepare for us and that's a big advantage. I'm not saying I'm comfortable with Steelers rushing three or four almost every play in the fourth quarter and not getting there, and Dupree looking awful with Deebo on the bench, but it worked. Call it luck, Detroit being atrocious in the Red zone, but it worked and in the end of the day that's the only thing that matters.

[Mojouw]

Again, we saw where the speed and relentless of this defensive unit comes into play. In the redzone, the Lions could find no where to go due to the speed of the Steelers defense.

[ALLD]

John Facenda once said "Great teams aren't always great, they're just great when they have to be". Not happy with the yardage, but they stepped up when it matters and the team wouldn't have won without them stepping up when it mattered


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhecqKI3ZlE

[polamalubeast]

925130213343739904

[st33lersguy]

The 2008 unit didn't give up 300 total yards until the Titans game in game 15, this unit gave up 400 yards passing to last night.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhecqKI3ZlE

A true legend, he never will be forgotten

[Edman]

This is what is concerning. Detroit was supposedly down to their 3rd string RT and Dupree was off the sheet for pressures/sacks/etc. I hope Tuitt is healthy very soon. I can never figure out why we can't exploit opponents weaknesses. Eg. "Steelers are playing the worst rushing defense this week". Well you can almost guarantee we don't put over 100 yards rushing on the board against said opponent. Last night, the Lions line was patchwork, we get 2 sacks?

You can't get pressure on a QB when he gets rid of the ball too fast.

Stafford was getting rid of the ball after 2-3 seconds, because the Steelers deliberately left a dead spot for him to target.

[43Hitman]

You can't get pressure on a QB when he gets rid of the ball too fast.

Stafford was getting rid of the ball after 2-3 seconds, because the Steelers deliberately left a dead spot for him to target.
He was hitting that 5 yard hole like a beast too. It worked, but I'm not sure that game plan will work on every team. I guess that's why they change it each week.