Kovacevic: Shazier, Tuitt can shore up ... secondary?

[stillers4me]

“Football in shorts” is more than just one of Mike Tomlin's many pet phrases. It has a distinct beauty, this one. It's the coach's derisive, default comeback for any question that seeks analysis of any of the Steelers' various offseason workouts, and it doesn't even take the requisite verb.

“Coach, what did you of think of Joe Sixth-Rounder?”

“Football in shorts.”

“Coach, anyone out there who …?”

“Football in shorts.”

It's fair, too. No one's wearing pads. No one's hitting. It's all motions.

At the same time, be certain the Steelers' three-day rookie camp, which wrapped up Sunday on the South Side, represented at least the start of something essential for this franchise.

“A pass rush and coverage work together on a defense. They have since the beginning of time, and they always will,” Tomlin came back to one my decided non-football-shorts questions this weekend.............


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[BigNastyDefense]

Give any QB time and they'll complete passes.

If the front seven can get pressure, force late passes, hit the QB and make him skiddish...the secondary will be fine.

[GBMelBlount]

It's amazing what a difference .4 seconds can make.

In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks beat the Broncos by giving Peyton Manning 2.4 seconds to throw, compared to Russell Wilson's 2.81. Manning was pressured on 20 of 51 throws, Wilson on 4 of 27.

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/dejankova...#ixzz3282DeZM9
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[st33lersguy]

Why do you think QBs are often able to torch prevent defenses? All the energy is devoted to coverage so there is no pressure, and with no pressure, QBs have the time to locate open receivers. I don't care how open a receiver is, if a defender is in a QBs face almost immediately, that pass is probably not going to be complete

[zulater]

The way they call interference on db's the pass rush is the key to a successful defense in today's league. Either that or commit defensive holding from the first play of the game and on, never stopping no matter how many early penalties you take. Eventually the refs get tired of calling it. ( usually by the 3rd possession at latest) Then you have an extraordinary advantage for the remainder of the game. Particularly if you can combine the aforementioned with an athletic and aggressive front 7. How do I know this? That was the Seahawks script all last season. Similar to the NHL clutch and grab garage league the NFL last season proved that persistence in cheating pays off. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

[Edman]

Just like how a smart QB can make an O-Line much better, a strong pass rush makes the Defensive backfield better.

No QB is going to complete anything if he's on his back or running for his life.

[GBMelBlount]

Ben does.

[MrPgh]

Stan Savran has a take on this matter that I think is worth listening to. Click on the podcast that says "Stan Talks About Steelers May 19 2014."

http://www.970espn.com/media/

[Mojouw]

Stan Savran has a take on this matter that I think is worth listening to. Click on the podcast that says "Stan Talks About Steelers May 19 2014."

http://www.970espn.com/media/

This is a really interesting discussion. I disagree a bit with Savran here. The de-emphasis of the run game may not always be the result of a philosophical shift away from the running game by teams around the league, but rather a natural evolutionary correction in response to the dominance of defense during the mid 1990's through early 2000's. Zone-blitz concepts helped to negate some of the West Coast timing scheme offenses that had dominated the league during the 80's and the first portion of the 90's. In response teams shifted (back arguably) to mammoth offensive lines and a power running game. Remember how shocking and devastating it was when Dallas under Jimmy Johnson ran that first five man 300+ o-line out there? Defenses responded and bulked up to stop the power running game coupled with a play-action pass game. Remember why Kirkland was a monster in the middle? He could take on any massive o-lineman and fullbacks (remember those?) that got through the Dline. The next (really broad level) chess piece was the freaks of nature that showed up at tight end and WR. Defenses countered by getting their own mutants to play safety.

Currently offensives are trying to maximize personnel mismatches by spreading the defense out and forcing them into "sub-packages" where they can not match up with the freaks of nature that populate the WR and TE position across the league. It also serves to blunt the impact of the defenses own freaks of nature - the edge pass-rushers. So, in my usual long-winded and not quite historically accurate manner, I am saying that Savran has kinda thrown out a classic chicken and egg argument. Did offenses stop rushing the ball because defenses were good at stopping the run or did offenses simply abandon the run and defenses have stubbornly refused to adapt?

All I'm saying is that if you get players that can play in the passing game and the running game - I'm guessing this is behind Tomlin's new favorite phrase of "run and hit" - then I don't care what level of the defense they play at. Dennard wasn't going to cover TE's anyways. Shazier might. TE's killed us last year more than WR's did. There is a constant move and counter-move across the league as teams try to stop the current system - whatever is in vogue. The Seahawks currently have the blueprint. A large ball-hawking fast back 4 fronted by waves of fast nimble pass rushers with a few fat bastards thrown in to stop the run. It seems that in the hue and cry for the Steelers to close the gap and get the fast ball-hawking back 4 everyone forgets about the army of talented and aggressive players in the front 7.

As for CB's in the draft, based on the picks and pre-draft grades, there are only 2 comparisons to make. Seeing if Shazier is better than Dennard and if Desir is better than Archer or Bryant.

[86WARD]

Just like how a smart QB can make an O-Line much better, a strong pass rush makes the Defensive backfield better.

No QB is going to complete anything if he's on his back or running for his life.

Ben does.

Burn!!!

[Edman]

Ben does.

Exception to the rule.

[fansince'76]

The way they call interference on db's the pass rush is the key to a successful defense in today's league. Either that or commit defensive holding from the first play of the game and on, never stopping no matter how many early penalties you take. Eventually the refs get tired of calling it. ( usually by the 3rd possession at latest) Then you have an extraordinary advantage for the remainder of the game. Particularly if you can combine the aforementioned with an athletic and aggressive front 7. How do I know this? That was the Seahawks script all last season. Similar to the NHL clutch and grab garage league the NFL last season proved that persistence in cheating pays off. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Our secondary wouldn't be nearly as suspect if they were allowed to mug WRs the way they mugged the Broncos' receivers in the SB either...

[Count Hogan]

Imagine the battle cry we're going to have for our defense. Duitt Tuitt!

WHAT YOU GOING TO DO, BROTHER, WHEN THE STEEL CURTAIN RUNS WILD ON YOU?!!