Playing scared on defense lets teams like the Chiefs exploit us, and it's going to cost us this game too

[steelreserve]

Right off the bat I have a problem with "playing scared". Nobody on this defense is playing scared. The Chiefs literally have a weapon at every offensive spot that can take it to the house on any play. I dare any one of you on here to scheme the perfect defense for them. OH yeah, you only get a 2min breather between series to catch your breath and make necessary schematic changes. GO.....

Fine, we weren't "playing scared," we had a coordinator who was scared and so he designed a bad scheme. Happy now? I mean, if we're going to nitpick over rhetorical points on language, because that's what's really important.

Personally, I would have gone with the high-pressure scheme or maybe blitzing with the goal of containing the QB.

But - and this is the really neat thing, get this - if that didn't work, I'd take my 2 minutes and switch to one of the other plans that I had ALL FUCKING WEEK to work on. Unless I was coaching for the Steelers. Then I'd just go into the game with no plan B, and throw up my hands and say, "Welp! Too bad, I only had a few minutes to adjust, time to get spanked again!" Because apparently that's acceptable to my fans and my organization, even though other coaches make in-game adjustments all the damn time.

[Born2Steel]

Fine, we weren't "playing scared," we had a coordinator who was scared and so he designed a bad scheme. Happy now? I mean, if we're going to nitpick over rhetorical points on language, because that's what's really important.

Personally, I would have gone with the high-pressure scheme or maybe blitzing with the goal of containing the QB.

But - and this is the really neat thing, get this - if that didn't work, I'd take my 2 minutes and switch to one of the other plans that I had ALL FUCKING WEEK to work on. Unless I was coaching for the Steelers. Then I'd just go into the game with no plan B, and throw up my hands and say, "Welp! Too bad, I only had a few minutes to adjust, time to get spanked again!" Because apparently that's acceptable to my fans and my organization, even though other coaches make in-game adjustments all the damn time.

The Steelers did get pressure on Mahomes. This resulted in Mahomes scrambling, which is what he does really well. For the most part...the defense stayed disciplined in their assignments and kept everyone covered. My point is all the Chiefs needed was just that small crack in the defense and their players make big gains. They have been doing it for years now and I would wager you can count on 1 hand the number of times a defense has held them.

The point about the 2mins between series has more to do with the defense getting wore down and gassed from chasing said scrambling weapons every down. Again, it's what they do because they can. And nobody has consistently stopped them from doing it. Even with "ALL FUCKING WEEK" to plan for it.

We all knew going in this was going to be a tall task. The Steelers simply do not have the personnel to stop that offense. Calling the players "scared" and calling out the coaches for not knowing how to beat this offense was your point. But go ahead and walk it back and call it nitpicking. It's your opinion and you're welcome to share it.

[Mojouw]

Is there an NFL team that goes into a game with two or more game plans?

I certainly rarely read/hear about a team being like “well once we switched to our other game plan things turned around”.

Most of what I hear is that your average NFL player struggles to learn the single basic game plan in any given week.

It would be cool if they could do more but most of these guys are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

[pepsyman1]

For me, the Chiefs exposed the lack of speed overall on the defense. I know it is far more complex than that but other than MF and Edmunds, no one on the back part of that defense can run. Witherspoon is timed fast...but does he play that way?

Spillane, Schoebert, and Newly Brain Damaged Bush all play too slow to keep up with any of the Chiefs playmakers. Haden just can't run anymore. Certainly not when the play is already behind him. Sutton isn't all that fast. Neither is Norwood.

Not an excuse...just something I have been thinking about. Honestly, all over the roster...there are a lot of "slow" NFL players...

Very good observation. This team doesn't gang tackle like they did back in the day. The softer zone coverage worked for a long time because all our guys on the back end closed distance quickly and tackled the catch. This defense has a couple of quick guys but overall they are just too slow to respond and close ground. The first quarter the defense did come out really amped up and closed quickly on plays, they weren't able to maintain though spending all that time on the field. Bush was supposed to be the guy that could go sideline to sideline like Shazier but we know where we are on that. I know it takes more than a season after the type of injury he had, but I never saw the EFFORT out of him that says he's gonna be that kind of guy.

- - - Updated - - -

Is there an NFL team that goes into a game with two or more game plans?

I certainly rarely read/hear about a team being like “well once we switched to our other game plan things turned around”.

Most of what I hear is that your average NFL player struggles to learn the single basic game plan in any given week.

It would be cool if they could do more but most of these guys are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

You're right about that, but does it ever look like the gameplay has been changed from previous weeks? lol. Always looks like the same lame approach. I do remember the one year that we went up to New England and LeBeau played a lot of bump and run man coverage during the game and we WON. We NEVER saw him do that again. We didn't do it every play, but we did it enough to keep them guessing.

[Mojouw]

You're right about that, but does it ever look like the gameplay has been changed from previous weeks? lol. Always looks like the same lame approach. I do remember the one year that we went up to New England and LeBeau played a lot of bump and run man coverage during the game and we WON. We NEVER saw him do that again. We didn't do it every play, but we did it enough to keep them guessing.

I think the gameplan often changes a great deal. They had Edmunds shadow Kelce more than I have ever seen them do with a safety and a TE last night.

There has been games when MF is doing really different stuff with where he is in coverages.

Previous to the decimation of the front 7, they did lots of clever twists and stunts even on non-blitzes.

I think this year they had a player problem. MF and Edmunds can't do anything fun and interesting when they have to cover for the overall inexperience and lack of talent at the other coverage positions. Layne and Pierre are useless. Haden needs safety help or many WRs are just going to run past him. Same with Sutton. They don't have a single LB on the roster that played well in coverage this year other than Schoebert and then like 4 weeks into the season he fell off a cliff. Norwood looked so overwhelmed at times out there that I could hear him thinking in my living room through the TV broadcast.

It is hard to do exotic and interesting gameplans when you just lack the talent to do stuff. I mean which of the CBs would you be comfortable leaving in single man coverage with a top tier WR? Maybe Witherspoon? And that depends on which version of Witherspoon shows up on game day.

Coaching is a crucial part of the game. And the Steelers staff is not without blame for individual games and the season in total. But the glaring weakness on the roster make it hard for me to see that there was that much better of a version of this team waiting to be unlocked through some masterful coaching maneuver.

[steelreserve]

The Steelers did get pressure on Mahomes. This resulted in Mahomes scrambling, which is what he does really well. For the most part...the defense stayed disciplined in their assignments and kept everyone covered. My point is all the Chiefs needed was just that small crack in the defense and their players make big gains. They have been doing it for years now and I would wager you can count on 1 hand the number of times a defense has held them.

The point about the 2mins between series has more to do with the defense getting wore down and gassed from chasing said scrambling weapons every down. Again, it's what they do because they can. And nobody has consistently stopped them from doing it. Even with "ALL FUCKING WEEK" to plan for it.

We all knew going in this was going to be a tall task. The Steelers simply do not have the personnel to stop that offense. Calling the players "scared" and calling out the coaches for not knowing how to beat this offense was your point. But go ahead and walk it back and call it nitpicking. It's your opinion and you're welcome to share it.

The point was not calling the players "scared," it was calling the coaches idiots and our strategy idiotic. I'm not walking anything back, you're just insisting I meant something that wasn't even part of the discussion.

Can you really count on one hand the number of teams that have played a decent defensive game against the Chiefs? Maybe if you are talking about this season alone. It's not impossible. Our defense is the stronger part of our team, and realistically is what got us to the playoffs. The Chiefs aren't walking all over everybody like they did last night. What happened last night, and in week 16, is not what happens when you just give it your best shot and it's not enough. It's what happens when you're a poker player with an obvious tell. Telegraphing your punches like Soda Popinski and getting flattened. But no, let's make excuses instead and pretend that's not what happened. That always helps.

Is there an NFL team that goes into a game with two or more game plans?

I certainly rarely read/hear about a team being like “well once we switched to our other game plan things turned around”.

Most of what I hear is that your average NFL player struggles to learn the single basic game plan in any given week.

It would be cool if they could do more but most of these guys are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Unless they are so limited that you could call a play you'd called before and everyone would forget it because it wasn't in the game plan, or if you were to tell a player to blitz or cover someone and he wouldn't understand you because it's not in the game plan - then yes, you do have multiple game plans.

It's not that you are going to be able to walk the players through plan A through plan Z in a given week and only use one of them. It's that if you're a coach or a coordinator, you have a playbook in your head, and it's up to you to find the ones that work. Players can adapt to that level of improvisation. Really it's just the coach that's improvising. And we are BAD at it. I mean, this has been an issue since Parker up the Middle wasn't working and we'd stick to it all game, to the tune of 21 yards on 19 carries.

If anything, your point about lacking the speed to execute against KC may be the closest to the mark out of most of the explanations in this thread. But even then, getting abused that way on 5 or 6 consecutive drives, on both sides of the half, isn't just about speed, it's about speed AND you're leaving yourself wide open to getting owned by it. Like, we had an issue with their guys running past us in the secondary, but if we're not spying Mahomes, there's an extra guy there in position to tackle someone, not taking himself out of the play every time there's a rollout or a pump fake.

Bottom line is, Reid and his OC outsmarted Tomlin and his DC, and it was embarrassing. Yeah, it was a tough ask to defend against that offense, but nearly everyone who's faced it has done better than THAT. Talent was on their side, and it's easy to look at that and say, "Well, that's the whole reason, we were screwed no matter what" ... but that's the easy explanation that ignores the fact that they also gave us a coaching lesson.

[Born2Steel]

The point was not calling the players "scared," it was calling the coaches idiots and our strategy idiotic. I'm not walking anything back, you're just insisting I meant something that wasn't even part of the discussion.

Can you really count on one hand the number of teams that have played a decent defensive game against the Chiefs? Maybe if you are talking about this season alone. It's not impossible. Our defense is the stronger part of our team, and realistically is what got us to the playoffs. The Chiefs aren't walking all over everybody like they did last night. What happened last night, and in week 16, is not what happens when you just give it your best shot and it's not enough. It's what happens when you're a poker player with an obvious tell. Telegraphing your punches like Soda Popinski and getting flattened. But no, let's make excuses instead and pretend that's not what happened. That always helps.



Unless they are so limited that you could call a play you'd called before and everyone would forget it because it wasn't in the game plan, or if you were to tell a player to blitz or cover someone and he wouldn't understand you because it's not in the game plan - then yes, you do have multiple game plans.

It's not that you are going to be able to walk the players through plan A through plan Z in a given week and only use one of them. It's that if you're a coach or a coordinator, you have a playbook in your head, and it's up to you to find the ones that work. Players can adapt to that level of improvisation. Really it's just the coach that's improvising. And we are BAD at it. I mean, this has been an issue since Parker up the Middle wasn't working and we'd stick to it all game, to the tune of 21 yards on 19 carries.

If anything, your point about lacking the speed to execute against KC may be the closest to the mark out of most of the explanations in this thread. But even then, getting abused that way on 5 or 6 consecutive drives, on both sides of the half, isn't just about speed, it's about speed AND you're leaving yourself wide open to getting owned by it. Like, we had an issue with their guys running past us in the secondary, but if we're not spying Mahomes, there's an extra guy there in position to tackle someone, not taking himself out of the play every time there's a rollout or a pump fake.

Bottom line is, Reid and his OC outsmarted Tomlin and his DC, and it was embarrassing. Yeah, it was a tough ask to defend against that offense, but nearly everyone who's faced it has done better than THAT. Talent was on their side, and it's easy to look at that and say, "Well, that's the whole reason, we were screwed no matter what" ... but that's the easy explanation that ignores the fact that they also gave us a coaching lesson.

I refuse to take any credit away from Reid and his staff just as much as I refuse to blame total lack of coaching ability on Tomlin and his staff. It really is as simple as those guys were that much better than us this year. Like it or not that is exactly what happened. You can plainly see the gameplan worked, until it didn't. That was due to the Personnel just couldn't execute at the same level anymore. I would put more of the blame on the offense for what happened.

[Mojouw]

The point was not calling the players "scared," it was calling the coaches idiots and our strategy idiotic. I'm not walking anything back, you're just insisting I meant something that wasn't even part of the discussion.

Can you really count on one hand the number of teams that have played a decent defensive game against the Chiefs? Maybe if you are talking about this season alone. It's not impossible. Our defense is the stronger part of our team, and realistically is what got us to the playoffs. The Chiefs aren't walking all over everybody like they did last night. What happened last night, and in week 16, is not what happens when you just give it your best shot and it's not enough. It's what happens when you're a poker player with an obvious tell. Telegraphing your punches like Soda Popinski and getting flattened. But no, let's make excuses instead and pretend that's not what happened. That always helps.



Unless they are so limited that you could call a play you'd called before and everyone would forget it because it wasn't in the game plan, or if you were to tell a player to blitz or cover someone and he wouldn't understand you because it's not in the game plan - then yes, you do have multiple game plans.

It's not that you are going to be able to walk the players through plan A through plan Z in a given week and only use one of them. It's that if you're a coach or a coordinator, you have a playbook in your head, and it's up to you to find the ones that work. Players can adapt to that level of improvisation. Really it's just the coach that's improvising. And we are BAD at it. I mean, this has been an issue since Parker up the Middle wasn't working and we'd stick to it all game, to the tune of 21 yards on 19 carries.

If anything, your point about lacking the speed to execute against KC may be the closest to the mark out of most of the explanations in this thread. But even then, getting abused that way on 5 or 6 consecutive drives, on both sides of the half, isn't just about speed, it's about speed AND you're leaving yourself wide open to getting owned by it. Like, we had an issue with their guys running past us in the secondary, but if we're not spying Mahomes, there's an extra guy there in position to tackle someone, not taking himself out of the play every time there's a rollout or a pump fake.

Bottom line is, Reid and his OC outsmarted Tomlin and his DC, and it was embarrassing. Yeah, it was a tough ask to defend against that offense, but nearly everyone who's faced it has done better than THAT. Talent was on their side, and it's easy to look at that and say, "Well, that's the whole reason, we were screwed no matter what" ... but that's the easy explanation that ignores the fact that they also gave us a coaching lesson.

I see what you’re saying. And I don’t disagree.

I am interested to know what the NFL team perspective on it would be.

Say you have 100 plays in your playbook. In a given week you practice some subset of them. Say 50 (don’t focus on the numbers, I’m sure they’re wrong). If, during the game you want to call one of the other 50. Maybe it’s one you haven’t called in 3 weeks. Does that get called? How does it “usually” work out? Or do teams go in armed with the plays they “installed” during the week and that’s basically it?

I have no idea, but I’m interested to find out. Maybe I’ll turn something up on the internet.

I do remember last season or so Haden was basically awestruck that Tomlin drew up a new defense during half time and they played it with success. Basically said it never/rarely happens in the NFL.