The Why Aren't We Blitzing Thread

[steelpride12]

Here's were we can discuss why the hell Lebeau and the defense has just not brought the blitz much at all for the last few games. Yes I know we do blitz on occasion and we have injuries, but bringing a 3 man rush on a 3rd and long is not Steelers football and was just wondering what others feel about the lack of pressure right now!?

[Count Steeler]

No pressure, no diamonds. No diamonds, no Super Bowl rings.

[Kaeg]

Blitzing is soooo yesterday. Besides; Why would we want to dirty Tom's uniform or mess up his Bieber?

[SteelerSal]

Our defense has been playing wussy ball after Harrison's fines.

[steeldevil]

Probably because Roger Goodell paid Dick LeBeau like 50 million dollars to not blitz in order to aid his transformation of the league.... :chuckle:

[salamander]

Probably because Roger Goodell paid Dick LeBeau like 50 million dollars to not blitz in order to aid his transformation of the league.... :chuckle:

Wouldn't surprise me. How many teams have put up 40+ points already this season? :jerkit:

[Chidi29]

I will say blitzing Brady is very tough because he's a smart QB in a system where they don't take a lot of deep shots and can nickel and dime you. They probably have the best offense to counter our defense and that is partially why they were so successful.

I am curious to exactly how many times we blitzed, to put an exact number on it. Maybe it was more often than we thought. Maybe it was less.

If we didn't do it very often, it will have contradicted what Tomlin said about not giving Brady a steady diet of anything.

[oneforthetoe]

Naturally, I would have to go back and look at past seasons to compare before actually stating how much more or less we are blitzing this year. My guess is we are blitzing a little less than in past years because Lebeau is more concerned about the secondary giving up the big play. However, the majority of the complainers about the frequency of our blitzes are greatly overstating the decrease. Lebeau has never been as heavy a blitz caller (at least in total numbers sent) as say the Ryan Brothers. I've said before that sometimes his best defensive calls are when the we convinces the opposing QB that a heavy blitz is coming and then only sends 3 or 4 and the QB rushes his pass into coverage.

In addition, I believe it is an illusion to think that our secondary coverage, which is so bad in zone coverage, would somehow do a better job if we had to play more man-to-man or just tighter coverage. Look at some of the biggest failures we have had on defense this year. On the winning TD pass by the Ravens we blitzed Troy. In the almost Cinci comeback T.O abused William Gay. And, if my memory is correct, we played the typical Lebeau defense in the first half Sunday night and we were down by 7. We played more man in the second half and Brady beat us with big plays.

I'm certainly not saying that we are without issues. It is pretty clear we are not suddenly going to get better at coverage. Obviously, if we can't get better players then Lebeau needs to adjust the system to compensate. Maybe sending more blitzes early in games, in particular, would help? Teams have been getting into a rhythm too quickly against us.? I just think the frequency of our blitzing has become the scapegoat for every negative play our defense has given up in the passing game. The issues are not that simple.

Some positive thoughts. I do think the depletion of out DL has hurt our pass rush. I know our D'linemen don't usually get many sacks, but we do need them to get a push to help out our linebackers. In addition, I can think back to many instances where both Brett and Aaron got hurries on the QB. Those hurries can almost be as effective as a sack. The reason I listed it as a positive that we know Brett will be back and hopefully Aaron will make it back by the end of the season. Also, we should have two weeks to work on our pass defense since neither of our next two opponents are exactly Tom Brady and the Pats when it comes to throwing the ball.

All in all, I just hope we can improve each week. After all we are still 6-3.

[st33lersguy]

Dick LeBeau has lost his touch, he has seemed to have forgotten that the zone blitz made him famous and worked so well for the defense and not the success proof prevent defense that he continues to run despite watching it fail everytime he runs it

[NCSteeler]

Our defense has been playing wussy ball after Harrison's fines.

That about says it all!

[stillers4me]

Didn't you see the game last night?? The new NFL is all about to long beeyootiful passes and the offense burning up the field.

No defensive action is necessary.

[SteelerFanInStl]

It seems like LeBeau wants to drop Harrison and Timmons back in coverage all the time instead of blitzing. Unfortunately our DBs aren't good enough to cover anyone for more than a couple of seconds so without pressure, we get picked apart. I really don't understand what LeBeau is doing.

[oneforthetoe]

Dick LeBeau has lost his touch, he has seemed to have forgotten that the zone blitz made him famous and worked so well for the defense and not the success proof prevent defense that he continues to run despite watching it fail everytime he runs it

While I can't say he is without blame because ultimately it is his defense, at least he knows what a prevent defense is, which is more than I can say for the countless fans who keep saying we are in one every time something goes wrong.;)

[Raleigh Steel]

this might sound crazy but i remember when tomlin first got the job people were wondering if we'd stay with the 3-4 or switch to the 4-3 that tomlin ran when he was a DC.

there were even theories that we may try some sort of hybrid type defense.

what i'm wondering is if maybe we are trying to do some sort of hybrid, or if tomlin is controlling the defense a little more than we think he is. because i just can't understand why lebeau's defense looks like someone else's defense all of a sudden.

anyways, that's my 2 cents...oh and mcfaddens sucks, gay sucks, and arians sucks ass!!!!!!!!

[SteelerSal]

Dick LeBeau has lost his touch, he has seemed to have forgotten that the zone blitz made him famous and worked so well for the defense and not the success proof prevent defense that he continues to run despite watching it fail everytime he runs it

Could it be that Lebeau has reached his peak (Hall of Fame) and he's just coasting along now?

[pepsyman1]

I will say blitzing Brady is very tough because he's a smart QB in a system where they don't take a lot of deep shots and can nickel and dime you. They probably have the best offense to counter our defense and that is partially why they were so successful.

I am curious to exactly how many times we blitzed, to put an exact number on it. Maybe it was more often than we thought. Maybe it was less.

If we didn't do it very often, it will have contradicted what Tomlin said about not giving Brady a steady diet of anything.

Well, it seemed to have payed off for Cleveland...and they looked like US. It's not even how often we actually blitz, but how many times they THINK we are going to blitz. We aren't even showing blitz and then dropping off...we aren't milling a bunch of guys all around the line to cause the confusion that our zone blitz is known for....BUT FRIGGIN CLEVELAND IS! Our defensive approach was built around the zone blitz concept, so even when we aren't blitzing we have to FREQUENTLY give the impression we are. That way they don't know what's actually coming. Lately, we can tell from our sofa what we're actually doing. I assume that Brady identifies is a lot faster than any of us. We are not playing the same approach we've been known for for the last decade..period..

[Chidi29]

Well, it seemed to have payed off for Cleveland...and they looked like US. It's not even how often we actually blitz, but how many times they THINK we are going to blitz. We aren't even showing blitz and then dropping off...we aren't milling a bunch of guys all around the line to cause the confusion that our zone blitz is known for....BUT FRIGGIN CLEVELAND IS! Our defensive approach was built around the zone blitz concept, so even when we aren't blitzing we have to FREQUENTLY give the impression we are. That way they don't know what's actually coming. Lately, we can tell from our sofa what we're actually doing. I assume that Brady identifies is a lot faster than any of us. We are not playing the same approach we've been known for for the last decade..period..

Good point and I wonder how the Browns were able to have so much success. I'm going to try and talk to a Browns fan I know about that.

[Devilsdancefloor]

Dline isnt gettnig a push, the LBers instead of rushing the QB are falling in coverage and the 2ndary looks plain horrible. To be honest when harrison lines up and then falls back i know we re not even gonna get near the QB. I dont know, but the deense looks lost a lot of the time troy is out of place ryan is really no wher eto be found bmac is geting burned and if it 3rd down gay i getting burned. i dont understand it. seems like we do a lot more of that crosing a gap blitz then anything else. I hope the coaches are looking at this and work things out.

[7willBheaven]

As a few have said...when you drop your pass rushers (mainly OLBs...and Timmons) back into coverage...you're not going to be blitzing. Its one of those things...blitzing can help by not giving the QB time/etc and either the QB making an error or nothing coming of the play. On the flip side some would say dropping more guys into coverage it becomes a lesser chance that the QB will complete a pass. While both can work at times...you need a proper amount of each to make it work i think...not like 80% drop back 20% blitz or whatever.

[pepsyman1]

Good point and I wonder how the Browns were able to have so much success. I'm going to try and talk to a Browns fan I know about that.

I watched most of the game...and the Browns played defense the way our REPUTATION says we do. They didn't blitz every play or anywhere near that, but their lineman and linebackers were frequently standing and moving until very late on the play clock, they kept shifting people up and back from the line of scrimmage, when they did blitz they mixed it up...KEPT them guessing...in other words...THEY PRETENDED THEY WERE US!..and it was very affective.

I'm sure many of you older fans will remember, but we went through this in the early 90's with the Buffalo Bills and Jim Kelly. He was always ripping us to shreds, exposing us very much the way Brady does now. We didn't have any consistent success against them until we REALLY got aggressive with them. We did give up some occasional big plays over the top, but we pressed them HARD. We blitzed from EVERYWHERE. I remember when we finally cracked them like an egg on Monday Night Football. I don't ever remember seeing a team blitz as much as we did that game and it literally was from EVERYWHERE. Linebackers, safeties, cornerbacks. (I still remember Woodson coming in from the backside corner at 100 mph to lay Kelly out!) It was a gamble, but it worked. We don't even have to ACTUALLY blitz all the time, but we have to create the impression that we might be blitzing on every play. And we have to be willing SOME OF THE TIME (not always) to play some bump and run with the receivers to disrupt the rhythm that Brady gets on those short passes....plus that puts people closer to the action on those dump passes into the flat.

[Steeldude]

come on guys, the 3-8 defense is unstoppable.

i think the 1-10 is coming soon.

[Steeldude]

what is everyones definition of "blitz"? i see so many people with different explanations of what constitutes a blitz.

[pepsyman1]

come on guys, the 3-8 defense is unstoppable.

i think the 1-10 is coming soon.

We can't...we only have 8 active linebackers!...lol

[pepsyman1]

what is everyones definition of "blitz"? i see so many people with different explanations of what constitutes a blitz.

For me it would be either of two things...either we are bringing more than 4 people on a rush and/OR we are bringing someone from a defensive position that wouldn't normally be rushing the QB. i.e. Ike off the corner, Troy on a delayed rush through a gap, etc.

[CPanther95]

You can certainly make a case that blitzing against Brady is a recipe for disaster - and I don't fault them for keying on coverage in order to stop him.

But after the first half, when it became apparent that you couldn't stop him with more intense coverage, there's no excuse for not throwing everything at him.

[SteelerEmpire]

Well, it seemed to have payed off for Cleveland...and they looked like US. It's not even how often we actually blitz, but how many times they THINK we are going to blitz. We aren't even showing blitz and then dropping off...we aren't milling a bunch of guys all around the line to cause the confusion that our zone blitz is known for....BUT FRIGGIN CLEVELAND IS! Our defensive approach was built around the zone blitz concept, so even when we aren't blitzing we have to FREQUENTLY give the impression we are. That way they don't know what's actually coming. Lately, we can tell from our sofa what we're actually doing. I assume that Brady identifies is a lot faster than any of us. We are not playing the same approach we've been known for for the last decade..period..

That's what I've been saying for so long. You HAVE to blitz pass based teams if their the Patriots, Saints or Ravens. They sure as H*ll were throwing blitzes at us and looked what happened to Batch and Ben: games filled with sacks, hurried passes and pics. But when you blitz you have to have qualified secondary to cover the receivers because its gonna be a short pass the QB will try to make. Its so elementary I can't see why LeBeau is choosing not to do it ??? The Steelers don't like going into the playoffs with "too" good a record, so hopefully LeBeau will switch up the D-plan (and center it around blitzing) for important games later in the season and the playoffs...???

[st33lersguy]

Could it be that Lebeau has reached his peak (Hall of Fame) and he's just coasting along now?

No he started to decline last year before his induction. Age has just caught up with him