PFF rates these steelers in their top 100-51

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

That game was odd. It was a one-FG game... until three plays in a row turned a 3-point Raven lead into a 17-point Raven lead. Plus, by the end of the third quarter, it was evident that the Titans were going to win their game, which eliminated the Steelers from the playoffs. Thus, in the fourth quarter, the Steelers defense was sort of just going through the motions.

And, those 223 yards skewed the stats.

Up until that game, the Steelers defense was keeping pace with the vaunted Niners defense. Those 223 yards by the Ravens pushed our average down to 109 ypg (right below the Niners at 106 ypg).

Teeg, ask yourself what teams did the Steelers defeat last year with a winning record and that may also "skew" the stats.

That Ravens game with a backup QB, the Ravens were going to run the ball and the Steelers defense got manhandled in the run game, because of no line depth IMO and a lot of the time just playing with 2 down linemen.
First Drive- 9 rushes for 43 yards, 1 pass by Ravens for -8yard sack. FG.
Second Drive- 5 Rushes for 46 yards, 3 passes(2 incomplete) for 15 yards. Ravens FG

[pczach]

That game was odd. It was a one-FG game... until three plays in a row turned a 3-point Raven lead into a 17-point Raven lead. Plus, by the end of the third quarter, it was evident that the Titans were going to win their game, which eliminated the Steelers from the playoffs. Thus, in the fourth quarter, the Steelers defense was sort of just going through the motions.

And, those 223 yards skewed the stats.

Up until that game, the Steelers defense was keeping pace with the vaunted Niners defense. Those 223 yards by the Ravens pushed our average down to 109 ypg (right below the Niners at 106 ypg).

It's a schematic thing. An offense like the Ravens run is designed to first and foremost run the ball. When the quarterback is a runner in a designed running play, the offense has an extra blocker. That takes away the numbers advantage the defense usually operates with.

When you combine rushing yards on designed running plays with rushing yards on pass plays with an athletic QB, the rushing yards are usually much higher. That's just the way it works.

[teegre]

Teeg, ask yourself what teams did the Steelers defeat last year with a winning record and that may also "skew" the stats.

That Ravens game with a backup QB, the Ravens were going to run the ball and the Steelers defense got manhandled in the run game, because of no line depth IMO and a lot of the time just playing with 2 down linemen.
First Drive- 9 rushes for 43 yards, 1 pass by Ravens for -8yard sack. FG.
Second Drive- 5 Rushes for 46 yards, 3 passes(2 incomplete) for 15 yards. Ravens FG

You can only play who’s on your schedule. They didn’t win the following games, but they were within a score (in some cases a FG) of beating the Seahawks, Niners, and Ravens (with Lamar).

As far as that final game goes, here are a few things to consider:

-one game does not make a season; the Texans lost 41-7 to this same Ravens team.

-the Ravens ran on everyone. Everyone.

-most importantly, we held them to FGs on those opening two drives. It’s what this defense did all season long: bend, don’t break, and hope to get a turnover. In fact, Devin Bush drops a walk in pick-six that would have given us the lead. How different would the rest of the game have been if we score there? Regardless, holding the league’s “best team” to two FGs is a win... if we simply could have done anything on offense to match their scoring.

SUMMATION:
I’m not worried about the defense.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

SUMMATION:
I’m not worried about the defense.

I'm not worried, but IMO running a 2 man down line alignment will continue to allow long drives, big rushing yardage and the type of bend-not break defense that wears out in the 4th quarter.

Assuming the Steelers do not sign Hargrave in the offeseason, the D-line depth is 1. Cam Heyward, pro bowler in his 10th season, 2. Tuitt, a great talent that is coming off a torn Pectoral muscle and also had a torn biceps in 2017, 3. AluAlu, the 11 year vet who is a solid depth player and 4. Isiah Buggs, a promising rotational DE in his 2nd season.

Football starts up front, in the trenches. The Steelers D line group needs to get deeper, younger and hopefully stay healthy.

[teegre]

I'm not worried, but IMO running a 2 man down line alignment will continue to allow long drives, big rushing yardage and the type of bend-not break defense that wears out in the 4th quarter.

Assuming the Steelers do not sign Hargrave in the offeseason, the D-line depth is 1. Cam Heyward, pro bowler in his 10th season, 2. Tuitt, a great talent that is coming off a torn Pectoral muscle and also had a torn biceps in 2017, 3. AluAlu, the 11 year vet who is a solid depth player and 4. Isiah Buggs, a promising rotational DE in his 2nd season.

Football starts up front, in the trenches. The Steelers D line group needs to get deeper, younger and hopefully stay healthy.

Maybe... maybe not. It depends on if your offense is doing anything to counter those FGs.

That game/those 223 yards were an outlier. Up until that point, they’d given up no more than 160 yards in a single game. Still not good, but in that game the defense also provides the offense with 5 takeaways... which the offense did nothing with. In fact, we were a fumble away from closing out/winning that game. Simply, I’ll take 160 yards rushing and 5 takeaways any day.

Before those 223 yards, the defense was giving up (on average) 101 ypg... which was right around the same as the Ravens and the Taperiots (and better than the Niners).

SUMMATION:
I don’t see this defense being bludgeoned repeatedly.

As far as Hargrave goes: in a perfect world, you can keep everyone. Alas, free agency is going to poach someone. My point is that the D-line has a good mixture of veteran talent and youth... whereas, the OLBs are a bunch of meh. In other words I’m more comfortable with Alualu and Buggs than I am with Chickillo and Olaqwerty.

SUMMATION 2:
If I have only one player to throw $15 million at, it’s gotta be Dupree. It’s not hatred for Hargrave... it’s the NFL version of Sophie’s choice.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

SUMMATION 2:
If I have only one player to throw $15 million at, it’s gotta be Dupree. It’s not hatred for Hargrave... it’s the NFL version of Sophie’s choice.

I agree, you pay the OLB not the NT. Steelers still need to find D linemen if/When Hargrave moves on. The notion if needing to draft multiple O linemen doesn't make sense to me. The Steelers have lots of young talent on the O line group, while 50% of the Steelers d line is age 30 or older.

[86WARD]

I agree, you pay the OLB not the NT. Steelers still need to find D linemen if/When Hargrave moves on. The notion if needing to draft multiple O linemen doesn't make sense to me. The Steelers have lots of young talent on the O line group, while 50% of the Steelers d line is age 30 or older.

O-Line was less than talented this past season. Young but questionable.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

O-Line was less than talented this past season. Young but questionable.

The O line is the same that it was in 2018. The talent is there, but a few things changed IMO;

1. Ben wasn't there to make quicker reads and get the football out of his hands. Therefore Matt Feiler's inability to handle speed rushers was more evident.
2. A/V looked like his technique to a slide. Wasn't punching in pass pro with good hand position and tight elbows. Opened inside counter moves more than before. (Not sure if putting that on the coach change or not)
3. Foster looked slower and at times appeared to not be picking up the stunt or A-gap blitz. Maybe miscommunication between protection if the RB has blitz pickup or Foster on the A gap.
4. Pouncey had more bad snaps this season than the rest of his career combined it looked like.

IMO, the line is fine and has young guys like Banner, Chukks to step in. They should draft an interior O lineman, but Pouncey and Decastro are still great. AV needs to fix some technique(hopefully his coach helps) to get back to 2018 form. Foster is done and Feiler should move inside to Guard as he isn't a mediocre OT at best.

[teegre]

I agree, you pay the OLB not the NT. Steelers still need to find D linemen if/When Hargrave moves on. The notion if needing to draft multiple O linemen doesn't make sense to me. The Steelers have lots of young talent on the O line group, while 50% of the Steelers d line is age 30 or older.

Just so that we are clear, this is the beginning of a new discussion: drafting O-line vs. drafting D-line.

My mentioning drafting 3 O-linemen was a half-joke. I always felt that a strength of any O-line is their ability to communicate. Ergo, I half-jokingly stated that we could draft a new left side, in order to have them grow together.

In the draft “game” thread, I drafted 3 O-linemen, because three guys who I really liked were available. So, why not.

Foster is done. He was one of my favorite players, but he’s become a liability. One could move Feiler to LG, and that is indeed logical. That said, it leaves a hole at RT.

AV is slowing. Pouncey is going to retire when Ben does. So, in the very near future, we will need a LT and an OC (in addition to the immediate need at RT). Maybe those replacements are already on the roster, or maybe they’re not. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Mind you, 3 miiight be a bit extreme, but I would balk at drafting 2 O-linemen... and I’d draft them early.

Now, for the D-line.

Heyward is old. And, at his age, he could fall off the cliff at any point. That said, his play last season was much better than that of either AV or Pouncey. If I were to wager which of the three needs to be replaced sooner, it’d be one of the O-linemen.

Tuitt had an injury. True, he may never return to the same level of play. Then again, Heyward had the exact same injury a few years back, and he recovered just fine.

I am a big fan of Buggs. I think that “at worst” he surpasses Alualu’s position in the depth chart, and possibly Buggs becomes Heyward’s replacement in the 2021 season. But, YES, I’d draft another D-lineman... to replace Alualu for the 2021 season.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Just so that we are clear, this is the beginning of a new discussion: drafting O-line vs. drafting D-line.

My mentioning drafting 3 O-linemen was a half-joke. I always felt that a strength of any O-line is their ability to communicate. Ergo, I half-jokingly stated that we could draft a new left side, in order to have them grow together.

In the draft “game” thread, I drafted 3 O-linemen, because three guys who I really liked were available. So, why not.

Foster is done. He was one of my favorite players, but he’s become a liability. One could move Feiler to LG, and that is indeed logical. That said, it leaves a hole at RT.

AV is slowing. Pouncey is going to retire when Ben does. So, in the very near future, we will need a LT and an OC (in addition to the immediate need at RT). Maybe those replacements are already on the roster, or maybe they’re not. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Mind you, 3 miiight be a bit extreme, but I would balk at drafting 2 O-linemen... and I’d draft them early.

Now, for the D-line.

Heyward is old. And, at his age, he could fall off the cliff at any point. That said, his play last season was much better than that of either AV or Pouncey. If I were to wager which of the three needs to be replaced sooner, it’d be one of the O-linemen.

Tuitt had an injury. True, he may never return to the same level of play. Then again, Heyward had the exact same injury a few years back, and he recovered just fine.

I am a big fan of Buggs. I think that “at worst” he surpasses Alualu’s position in the depth chart, and possibly Buggs becomes Heyward’s replacement in the 2021 season. But, YES, I’d draft another D-lineman... to replace Alualu for the 2021 season.

I think we agree on a lot.

IMO, Feiler was the hole at RT. Banner should be a better RT and if Chukks isn't developing, then that is unfortunately on Sarrett a lot. The kid has great feet and should be an eventual LT, but at worst a RT.

Buggs I like, but I think immediately he is better at getting upfield in the pass game than owning a gap in the run game. I hope a full offseason with the Steelers helps him become a more complete lineman, but I agree we need to draft D lineman as well.