RUN Defense..... Are you Serious ??

[Mojouw]

I'm the on who said they we need to re-watch to evaluate, and I'm glad you agree, but I think you are still jumping to some conclusions (even if those conclusions turn out to be correct). I believe our two starting defensive ends are talented enough to make this scheme work, and Tuit probably will be as well once he is coached up a bit more. I saw Worilds beat his man one on one at least once, although he can be hit or miss. Not sure why that is, but he seems to have enough talent to play the position. Timmons blew it several times today. Again don't know why exactly, but I'm quite sure he has the talent to play the position. I'm also sure Shazier has what is required to play in this scheme and will be that transcendent talent once he is coached up more as well. The jury is still out on J. Jones, but he most definitely can improve with more experience and coaching up as well.

It's the nose tackle position that I'm not sure exists on the current roster. If Dan the giant is better than the guys who dressed today then that is a horrible coaching fail, or it just means that he needs to be coached up more as well.

Again, we really have to look at it on a play by play basis and see what happened. Maybe some things can be corrected. Maybe none of it can. But I think stating either definitively right now is tough. At least for me. All I know for certain is that Ike hit his ceiling a few years ago and can't really get any better, which is a shame but a reality. Perhaps he can cut down on the useless post play fighting if he really makes a point of doing so. That's not much but it's something.

I heard that Sharknado might be hurt bad. That would really suck.

You're right. I think I am just being a bit too pessimistic. Perhaps it is because I follow this team so closely, but I feel like I, as a fan, have been waiting for some of these guys (Jones, Worilds, Allen, Sharknado, etc) to step-up and "break-out" for so long. But in reality, it really hasn't been that long and it was only one week of early season football.

Perhaps I should put my pessimism back on the shelf for a few weeks and just enjoy the fact that the Steelers won, Shazier made a few "wow" plays, Wheaton looked ready, and Bell looks like he wants to run and catch for 3,000 yards from scrimmage. Additionally, to borrow from Tomlin, the demise of Heath Miller has been greatly exaggerated.

That being said, I refuse to be positive about Marcus Gilbert.

[katmandu]

Ok, the run Defense pretty much sucked in Pre-Season and now today they allow 189 Yards ??

Is this what we have to look forward to the rest of the season ?

.......and the bleeding continues on..........

[86WARD]

Terrance West and Bernard Pierce. God forbid a RB with major talent or experience plays against this defense...lol.

[polamalubeast]

I am sorry,but this defense is soft right now.

I hope that will change, but I have doubts.....Next week it will be against Newton, Williams and Stewart ...

[Craic]

What's more frustrating for me is that there were periods of yesterdays game that the run defense looked absolutely solid. They were swarming to the ball, stuffing the runner, it almost looked like the old Steelers. And then, poof, it was gone and we were getting cut up again.

[st33lersguy]

We need some Stephon Tuitt and Dan McCullers.

[Psycho Ward 86]

We need some Stephon Tuitt and Dan McCullers.

good god would i prefer tuitt in there over thomas more badly than anything. thomas was so slow off the ball last night he was a yard or two behind the line of scrimmage by the time forsett and pierce got there

[polamalubeast]

Alex Kozora ‏@Alex_Kozora 8s
Through the first two weeks, the #Steelers are allowing 9.65 YPC on 2nd down runs. 23 carries for 222 yards. Oh yeah, and two touchdowns.

https://twitter.com/Alex_Kozora/stat...78071137517568

[Mojouw]

So looks like the combined vortex of suck that is Cam Thomas and Jason Worilds is largely responsible for the gashing of the run defense:

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2014/09...ng-behind-run/

And to think I was worried about Jones anchoring against the run. Looks like Worilds is the one who forgot how to play LB.

[katmandu]

I am sorry,but this defense is soft right now.

I hope that will change, but I have doubts.....Next week it will be against Newton, Williams and...

Panthers held to 42 Total Yards rushing!

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201409...fo&tab=analyze

Net Yards Rushing	42
		Total Rushing Plays	10
		Average Gain per Rushing Play	4.2
		Tackled for a Loss (Number-Yards)	1--1

[polamalubeast]

on only 10 runs...

[Steelerette]

on only 10 runs...

That's a mystery to me. Cam Newton is a good player and valiant for toughing it out through his injury but you'd think they would try to hand it off more, especially against a team (us) that just got gashed.

[HollywoodSteel]

That's a mystery to me. Cam Newton is a good player and valiant for toughing it out through his injury but you'd think they would try to hand it off more, especially against a team (us) that just got gashed.

I was moving around a lot and not watching the game too closely. Were we stacking the box and daring them to pass? I certainly saw the Panthers make some nice plays in the passing game. That rookie receiver they have is a beast.

[Craic]

on only 10 runs...

Yeah, but, take a look at what actually happened per run play:

(8:51) J.Stewart up the middle to PIT 38 for 4 yards (R.Shazier).
(7:36) M.Tolbert up the middle to PIT 22 for 2 yards (L.Timmons).
(:01) (Shotgun) J.Stewart left guard to CAR 24 for 3 yards (W.Gay; L.Timmons).

Second Quarter

(4:51) J.Stewart right end to CAR 35 for -1 yards (S.McLendon).

Third quarter

(15:00) J.Stewart right guard pushed ob at CAR 35 for 15 yards (M.Mitchell).
(14:35) J.Stewart left end to CAR 35 for no gain (L.Timmons). PENALTY on CAR-B.Bell, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at CAR 35 - No Play.
(14:03) M.Tolbert right tackle to CAR 35 for 5 yards (L.Timmons). PENALTY on CAR-R.Brockel, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at CAR 30 - No Play.
(9:36) J.Stewart up the middle to PIT 49 for 10 yards (M.Mitchell).
(9:11) (Shotgun) M.Tolbert right guard to PIT 48 for 1 yard (S.Spence).
(7:52) (No Huddle, Shotgun) M.Tolbert right guard to PIT 37 for 1 yard (S.Spence).

So, basically, there was one run of 15 yards, and one run of 10 yards. That's it. The rest went 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, -1.

And, both of the big runs came in the beginning of the second half, when the Panthers came out trying to focus on the run. Yet, both times, they were stopped. Moreover, two more runs went for 5 yards and 0 yards, and both were penalized for offensive holding. That's even more impressive when you think about it. So, the numbers really are 35 yards on 8 attempts, or 5 yards a carry, with two runs making up the bulk of that. Without those, it's 1.6 yards a carry. I'd say that's an impressive stat. And last, of those two big-run series, the first ended in a fumble and a total drive yardage of -3. The second ended in a field goal.

EDIT: Since we're talking Run Defense, I didn't include Can Newton's scrambles, because that's actually pass protection. But he only had 2 runs for 7 yards, one a five-yarder and the other for 2.