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View Full Version : Can we break the Defensive Rushing Record?



Merchant
11-04-2010, 10:18 PM
Currently our run defense is allowing only 2.61 YPA... current record (Super Bowl Era) is held by the 2000 Ravens - 2.69.

I'm optimistic but the majority of those games we had Aaron Smith in the lineup. It's likely that things are going to slide down a tad with him gone.

salamander
11-04-2010, 10:27 PM
I'm glad we can stop the run so well but I hate seeing teams light up our secondary through the air all the time. Losing Smith is definitely gonna hurt, imo.

Psycho Ward 86
11-04-2010, 11:18 PM
Not without Smith I don't!

Some notable rushers we still have to face (or face again): Cedric Benson, Benjarvus Green-Ellis, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, Shonn Greene, LT, DeAngelo Williams, Jon Stewart, Peyton Hillis.

That's gonna be really tough to stop. Then again we've already whiffed away Michael Turner, CJ2K, Ronnie Brown, Ray Rice, Ricky Williams, and Chris Ivory like nothing at all.

HollywoodSteel
11-05-2010, 01:03 AM
If we keep letting teams march down the field with their passing game, sure. Why would they bother to run?

Galax Steeler
11-05-2010, 03:57 AM
If we could just stop teams from lighting us up through the air our defense would be great.

Merchant
11-05-2010, 12:18 PM
You know what.. this was supposed to be a positive thread. Screw u guys! :chuckle:

SteelerFanInStl
11-06-2010, 09:50 AM
If we keep letting teams march down the field with their passing game, sure. Why would they bother to run?

Agreed. Teams currently have no reason to try to run against us.

Edman
11-07-2010, 11:29 AM
We might as well. The Pass Defense being so awful and all, teams don't need to run on the Steelers.

stillers4me
11-07-2010, 11:33 AM
I just want to win the next freaking game.

steelpride12
11-07-2010, 11:41 AM
i don't think that will be a problem at all, no Smith last week and we fended off the Saints rushing game, of course with no Bush, but that's not my concern, its the pass defense Im worried about.

Merchant
11-07-2010, 01:35 PM
Dude. You guys are the most negative group ever. Nothing but whining about the pass defense, instead of giving credit to the rush D.

Psycho Ward 86
11-07-2010, 04:08 PM
Dude. You guys are the most negative group ever. Nothing but whining about the pass defense, instead of giving credit to the rush D.

Sometimes you gotta face the music man, sometimes defensive stats are misleading. For example, the Raiders don't actually have the NFL's 5th best pass defense, it's just that nobody wastes there time throwing when they have the 26th ranked run defense.

Merchant
11-09-2010, 12:16 AM
What was that.. 58 yards by Benson?

Count it! :D

First team in HISTORY not to allow more than 75 yards rushing opening 8 games.

*awaits complaints about the pass defense*

steelpride12
11-09-2010, 12:34 AM
Hey Merchent let every one cry boo hoo. Who would have guessed a 6-2 team with the 3 toughest record and the best D in the league isn't good enough.

Merchant
11-09-2010, 05:09 PM
I know lol. Apparently I'm the only one excited about this record? O wellz

Psycho Ward 86
11-09-2010, 05:13 PM
What was that.. 58 yards by Benson?

Count it! :D

First team in HISTORY not to allow more than 75 yards rushing opening 8 games.

*awaits complaints about the pass defense*

You got it: we were a hair follicle away from losing because of our pass defense. Who cares about the damn run defense record if we're more than likely going to lose a couple down the road because of a different reason?

Merchant
11-09-2010, 05:19 PM
You got it: we were a hair follicle away from losing because of our pass defense. Who cares about the damn run defense record if we're more than likely going to lose a couple down the road because of a different reason?

I thought the pass defense was decent last night. On the 2nd Bengals TD Farrior was soooo close to sacking Palmer and he just made a great throw to one of the all time great receivers for the score. Can't really be mad about that. On the 3rd TD Bungles had the ball on our 1 yard line because of 50+ yars in penalties after the Ben pick. Can't really be mad about that. On the last drive Benson made that an unreal juggling catch that got em the first down, then the Pass D stopped em on 4th down. Can't really be mad about that.

Gay didn't have his best game, but I think he's been solid the rest of the season. Definitely one of the most improved players on the team. McFadden is the only DB i have a beef with.. he's been the weak link in that secondary. T.O. abused him all night.

Delraich
11-09-2010, 08:02 PM
Dude. You guys are the most negative group ever. Nothing but whining about the pass defense, instead of giving credit to the rush D.

This thread could have been about Marsha Bwady's vaginal ring and someone would have bitched about the pass defense.

I think they can break the record and I think if teams could run on us that our pass defense would look better.

Delraich
11-09-2010, 08:09 PM
Sometimes you gotta face the music man, sometimes defensive stats are misleading. For example, the Raiders don't actually have the NFL's 5th best pass defense, it's just that nobody wastes there time throwing when they have the 26th ranked run defense.

The music is that we are 6-2 and everyone in the league (except our fans) fears this defense. We give up 21 points in a game we win and people are jumping off bridges. I just don't understand it.

Craic
11-09-2010, 08:48 PM
The music is that we are 6-2 and everyone in the league (except our fans) fears this defense. We give up 21 points in a game we win and people are jumping off bridges. I just don't understand it.

ROTFL. No one in the league fears our defense... against the pass. Especially in the fourth quarter.

It's not about the 21 points that are given up in the game.

Its about the 63 points that are given up in the 4th quarter alone-an average of over a TD per fourth quarter. 14 points in the fourth quarter EACH of the last two games.

That means that ON AVERAGE, the offense has to go into the 4th quarter with a 10 point lead in order to avoid overtime or a loss. In the last two games, an average of 17 points.

And you don't understand why people are frustrated with our Defense?

Psycho Ward 86
11-09-2010, 09:48 PM
1) Gay didn't have his best game, 2) but I think he's been solid the rest of the season. Definitely one of the most improved players on the team. 3) McFadden is the only DB i have a beef with.. he's been the weak link in that secondary. T.O. abused him all night.

1) That's not saying much lol

2) Bouchette says he's the most improved player after 6 games and all of a sudden the Gay-fans (that felt weird to say) are slowing resurfacing. Gay is no better than last year, and he's in the NICKEL corner (albeit, he still gets a #1 or #2 lined up against him once in a while) role. If anything, he might've regressed.

3) William Gay was a part of that. He got absolutely wrecked on T.O's 1st TD, and he couldn't take care of business against Shipley.


The music is that we are 6-2 and everyone in the league (except our fans) fears this defense. We give up 21 points in a game we win and people are jumping off bridges. I just don't understand it.

When I say face the music that means you don't ball up in a corner, cover your ears, and completely ignore the reality that we should be extremely concerned about our ability to defend the pass. I think most everyone here can agree that this is the most likely reason why we will drop a few down the stretch if we don't improve in this area. Call me crazy.

CPanther95
11-10-2010, 07:00 AM
You guys are so pessimistic and always end up complaining about the few weak spots instead of focusing on our strengths. It's embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as yapping about our defensive secondary when our already suspect O Line has sustained a rash of injuries. We could completely stop the run every game and it won't matter if our O Line can't pass block. If teams can rush 3 and still apply pressure, Ben will spend the last 8 games running for his life and we won't be able to sustain any drives - which will then put that questionable defensive secondary right back onto the field.

It's not looking good people.

Sorry about going off on a tangent, what were we talking about again?

Merchant
11-10-2010, 10:55 AM
Our vaunted Run D.. Who 99.9% of fans take for granted. This is how many years now that we've been in the top 3?

HollywoodSteel
11-10-2010, 11:10 AM
I get that you're trying to put out a positive stat, Merchant, and I think our run defense has been lights out. But I think it's funny that when someone put up a thread about our pass defense's stats, a lot of people were screaming that stats lie and that they're meaningless. So how is that stat meaningless but this stat is meaningful?

I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time here, but I think it's obvious that neither stat paints the full picture, but neither stat is meaningless either. It helps inform what kind of defense we have and how other teams will most likely attack us in the future.

VTsteel
11-10-2010, 02:37 PM
The rushing stat is an interesting one . . . and the explanation that our pass defence is the reason is valid.

I would say the stat for our defence that encompases both (and there by more important) is the points per game.

In 2000 Baltimore set the record for 16 game schedules @ 10.31 ppg

Our Defence is allowing 15.38 ppg (at the midway point). Not bad at all

Arkiesteel
11-10-2010, 03:01 PM
Not without Smith I don't!

Some notable rushers we still have to face (or face again): Cedric Benson, Benjarvus Green-Ellis, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, Shonn Greene, LT, DeAngelo Williams, Jon Stewart, Peyton Hillis.

That's gonna be really tough to stop. Then again we've already whiffed away Michael Turner, CJ2K, Ronnie Brown, Ray Rice, Ricky Williams, and Chris Ivory like nothing at all.

and Peyton Hillis

HollywoodSteel
11-10-2010, 03:06 PM
What's interesting is that in 2008 we had the #1 pass defense with pretty much the exact same guys in the secondary and, if anything, our linebacking core is better now with Timmons coming on the way he has. It seems that our defense lives and dies not with the cover skills of the secondary, but whether or not we can put pressure on the QB and also our ability to cause turnovers. It seems like we've been pretty good with the turnovers so far, but maybe we're just not as effective with the pass rush. I really wonder why that is. Has Harrison lost a step? Maybe it's just that offensive coordinators have figured out our blitz packages and are better at getting the ball out quickly with intermediate routes in the soft part of our zone.

HollywoodSteel
11-10-2010, 03:09 PM
and Peyton Hillis

And Josh Cribbs, but I'm not sure if knocking him out of the game early really counts.

Psycho Ward 86
11-10-2010, 05:55 PM
and Peyton Hillis

already mentioned.


And sorry to the rest of you, but boasting about your strengths is not the way to improve.

Dick723
11-10-2010, 07:49 PM
You know what.. this was supposed to be a positive thread. Screw u guys! :chuckle:

Tell em Merchant, screw em right where they eat huh?

Merchant
11-10-2010, 09:14 PM
already mentioned.


And sorry to the rest of you, but boasting about your strengths is not the way to improve.

Nothing wrong with taking a little pride in the Run D is all I'm saying. Is it better to do nothing but dwell on our weaknesses?

Psycho Ward 86
11-10-2010, 10:45 PM
Nothing wrong with taking a little pride in the Run D is all I'm saying. Is it better to do nothing but dwell on our weaknesses?

Haha, the defense has been the pride of our fans for ages. Of course we're proud, but pride isn't really the most practical trait for success. Championship teams always look to tune themselves up, that's all.

A wise man once said: "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - Vince Lombardi


Remember, this is the ONE guy who said we were going to be a deadly team for the ages right after our 1-13 season under Chuck Noll's 1st year. I think he knows a thing or two about this football stuff :)

Craic
11-11-2010, 01:08 AM
The rushing stat is an interesting one . . . and the explanation that our pass defence is the reason is valid.

I would say the stat for our defence that encompases both (and there by more important) is the points per game.

In 2000 Baltimore set the record for 16 game schedules @ 10.31 ppg

Our Defence is allowing 15.38 ppg (at the midway point). Not bad at all

Yes... but that stat is also quite misleading... because it doesn't tell the story of the 4th quarter meltdowns. This stat is a little more important:


Its about the 63 points that are given up in the 4th quarter alone-an average of over a TD per fourth quarter. 14 points in the fourth quarter EACH of the last two games.

That means that ON AVERAGE, the offense has to go into the 4th quarter with a 10 point lead in order to avoid overtime or a loss. In the last two games, an average of 17 points.

HughC
11-11-2010, 12:12 PM
I would say that based on how the run defense has been so far plus the rest of the schedule, there's a very good chance the team can break the record. As far as the 4th quarter goes, the key is to have a lead - which is helped out a great deal by the turnovers. If opponents are behind they are less likely to be running the ball in the 4th quarter.