Steelers Defense Never Rests

by maryrose on Dec 2, 2008 2:59 PM EST Comment 45 comments

Steelers fans don't need me or anyone else to remind them how impressive our defense has been this season, but now with three-quarters of the season in the books, it is interesting to look inside some of the numbers. The Steelers lead the NFL in the grand slam of all four defensive rankings, most importantly, points-per-game:

Steelers ....14.2 ppg
Titans.........14.6 ppg
NFL Average...22.3 ppg

Remarkably, Pittsburgh has given up 10 points or fewer in half of their 12 games, including the last three in a row and four of the last five games. What makes Pittsburgh's league-leading scoring defense more impressive is the fact they are disadvantaged by "hidden yards" more so than any other team I suspect, because of horrible punting and self-inflicted penalties.

The Steelers are dead last in the NFL in punting average (39.5), yet rank eighth in opponents' punting average against (43.2). Using the median between total Steelers' punts (57) and our opponents (66) to arrive at a per-game yardage difference, the Steelers give the opposition 19 yards-per-game in field position. All of those poor Steelers punts give the opponents a shorter field and yet the defense still gives up the league's fewest points. In addition, we have been penalized more than our opponents, 695 yards to 672. That margin is not nearly as dramatic as the punting, but it does add to the hidden yardage that works against the defense.

The Steelers have given up 16 touchdowns this season. You may recall the first two came in the fourth quarter of the Houston massacre when the first string was texting their families on the sidelines. Another came against Baltimore when Mitch Berger booted a quarter-pounder to the Steelers 44-yard line. Of course, Ben gave Rashean Mathis his obligatory pick-six against Jacksonville, and then gave the Colts two early Christmas gifts on the 30-yard line. This past Sunday, Ben gave New England a 14-yard field to work with on the Vrabel interception. That leaves a total of nine touchdowns this year (and this includes the Ike Taylor gift to Reggie Wayne) where the opposition drove at least half the field to get into the end zone. That's less than one per game, or three every four games to be exact.

The Steelers have also given up 18 field goals. Five of those came from turnovers without the opposition getting a first down (Houston, Philly, New York and Washington twice). Another five came from turnovers or shanked punts that surrendered the ball on our side of the field (Philly, Baltimore twice, New York and Cincy). Only eight times have the opposition driven past midfield to score a field goal. That too is less than one per game, or two every three games to be exact. Incredibly, only 17 times all season has the opposition crossed the 50-yard line to score any points against Pittsburgh's first-team defense, and half of those have been field goals.

In addition to scoring defense, the Steelers lead the NFL in the yardage hat trick: rushing yards, passing yards and then of course, total yards:

Rushing Yards Per Game

Steelers........71
Vikings...........73
NFL Average...114

Passing Yards Per Game

Steelers......166
Baltimore....175
NFL Average....212

Total Yards Per Game

Steelers.......238
Baltimore.....253
NFL Average.....327

In rushing, the Steelers have not allowed a 100-yard rusher all season, compared to the NFL average of 114 yards-per-game. They have not allowed a 300-yard game, despite the NFL average of 327. Not only are they better than average, they've never allowed average. In passing defense, this past Sunday, the Patriots caught 19 of Matt Cassel's passes for 169 yards. The Steelers defense caught two of Cassel's passes for 112 yards.

Put this Man in the Hall of Fame

Yes, anyone who follows the Steelers knows that the defense is playing exceptionally well these days. The numbers are great without qualification. Yet when you factor in the horrible punting, penalties (especially so many on third downs that keep drives alive) and costly turnovers that have put the defense on the defensive, these guys and their coaches deserve a great big Steeler Nation salute.

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maryrose:

you are the coolest person ever. God do I love your posts.

by TheCincinnatiConqueror on Dec 2, 2008 3:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

brilliance defined

“the Patriots caught 19 of Matt Cassel’s passes for 169 yards. The Steelers defense caught two of Cassel’s passes for 112 yards.”

by steelguy99 on Dec 2, 2008 3:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I love this post

It really shows how hardcore our Defense is.

If we would stop turning it over, heck even just taking a sack, we would give up way less points.

The punting is a serious issue. Who would have thought Sepulveda’s injury would end up making the biggest impact.

by Mechem on Dec 2, 2008 3:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The long snaps have been horrible too

We miss Greg Warren.

by JHolmes on Dec 2, 2008 7:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Great Post MR!

Hard to think how good this Defense would look if we weren’t sucking eggs on offense and ST half of the games this season. How many utter shit situations has the offense has put our D in this season? This is the Steel Curtain for the next generation.

by BallsofSteel on Dec 2, 2008 3:41 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Wow

Really great post.
Great call on the hidden yards. We all know that this defense would be statistically absurd if the offense held up its end of the deal, but its nice to see it spelled out so clearly.

by SteelerBuddha on Dec 2, 2008 3:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Cheers

You did it again Mary Rose. The thing that worries me is Baltimore’s defense is nearly as good, if not as good, as ours. They are right behind in most categories, and ahead of us in those “splash plays”: turnovers. Until recently, their offense has not been great, so they were defending short fields as well. Also, take away that one game against the Giants (just like we like to take away the end of the Houston game and 14 yard drives) and Baltimore might be ahead of us in rush defense and total yards. Our defense is as great as MR makes it out to be, but it’s Baltimore’s defense I worry about.

by CarlWeathersMustache on Dec 2, 2008 3:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

remember that the ravens have also had a slightly easier schedule and have not come into the tough part of their schedule. They also lucked up and got the Eagles on the decline and will get Jacksonville at the decline too. Most people will agree that both these teams were at their best in the beginning of the season, where we unfortunately had to play them.

Don’t get me wrong but Baltimore has a great defense too but they still have less turnovers on offense so their D hasn’t had to protect short fields as much as our D.

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 4:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Jacksonville has been on the decline all season.

by steelguy99 on Dec 2, 2008 4:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

but they were better at the beginning. from being close with the titans and beating the texans, to getting crushed by the texans.

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 5:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Scheduling difficulty fluctuates weekly

Not long ago the Ravens had the tougher road when they had the Giants and Eagles back-to-back while the Steelers had a struggling San Diego and then Cincy at home. The Steelers took a one-game lead during those two weeks. Then the Ravens had the easier road with Cincinnati while Pittsburgh had to go into New England. The Steelers held serve with Sunday’s win. Now they are almost even.

Pittsburgh hosts Dallas while Baltimore hosts Washington (Ravens a bit easier)
Pittsburgh goes to Baltimore (Ravens with home field)
Pittsburgh goes to Tennessee while Baltimore goes to Dallas (Both tough)
Pittsburgh hosts Cleveland while Baltimore hosts Jacksonville (Steelers a bit easier)

Now it’s really close, with next week, of course, being critical.

Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history

by maryrose on Dec 2, 2008 4:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

true, i am really excited to see these games. i see our offense getting back on sync and i am just praying that those dag on rat birds don’t try to injure/cheap shot all of our players in the game next week.

we need to blow them out because idk if a close game will go in our favor again. but i really don’t see us losing to them.

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 5:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

wow

i don’t think hosting cleveland is easier than hosting jacksonville… did you watch the game last night? jacksonville looked like the lions. steve young was literally speechless after the game when trying to comment on the jaguars. the ravens should beat the jags by 20 points, just like the TEXANS did.

the clowns on the other hand, despite injuries to their top two qbs, only lost to the colts 10-6. plus, this is a rivalry game, and even though we’ve been dominating the series, cleveland will play us tough…i guarantee it.

by the way….outstanding post.

by NoCal-SteelCity on Dec 2, 2008 7:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

One other thing that makes the numbers more remarkable..

..is that the Steeler defense has had little or no help from the Steeler offense which ranks near the bottom in all categories DESPITE BEING ON THE FEILD A SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY OF EACH GAME.

If the Steeler D only had to do it’s fair share to win each game, I think the numbers would be even more impressive than they already are.

by robert ethan on Dec 2, 2008 4:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

More LeBeau..

..4 of the past 5 Steeler first round draft picks have been on the offensive side of the ball, along with a disproportionate number of second and third round picks. LeBeau is given low grade ore and turns it into gold. Arians has been given high grade ore and turns it into bronze.

by robert ethan on Dec 2, 2008 4:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bronze is being very generous.

by steelguy99 on Dec 2, 2008 4:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah but at least we are seeing more of sweed, and unfortunately not mendenhall but he is still going to be great.

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 5:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just because they're first round picks doesn't make em good ones

Miller and Holmes have not lived up to the status. Simmons is a bust even though we were starting him for some reason. Mendenhall is still unknown but it’s obvious there were a lot of good backs in this draft that we may have missed on. Matt Forte is the one that I would really like to have.

The defensive first rounders (Hamp, Troy, Timmons) are far superior.

by JHolmes on Dec 2, 2008 8:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

OMG

did you really just say Miller and Holmes have not lived up to the status???

it doesn’t sound like you have been watching the games lately. Miller has been a great player since he was a rookie and now is probably in the top 5 TE’s in the game right now because of his ability to BLOCK and catch. he is very valuable to the running game.

Have you not seen that when Holmes is in the lineup, our passing game is so much better? He stretches the field, and adds a threat for slants and screens. He is also very good at holding on to the ball.

Both of those players are great picks and lived maybe past their status already early in their career.

can’t fight for simmons and mendenhall looked good for the carries he has but is too early to tell.

Forte is damn good but idk why we would have taken him before Mendenhall, give the guy a chance, he was outstanding at Ilini

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 9:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I would love for you to educate me as to how Heath Miller is so superior to any other TE in the league like a Witten, Gates (when healthy), Cooley, or Gonzalez is. His run blocking is in no way better any other average TE in the NFL. He’s not driving people off the ball like Bruener used to for God’s sake. He gets in the way. He is sure handed, but isn’t he supposed to be as a TE? Good but not great. I wouldn’t call him a miss or a bust, but he’s definitely no homerun. I would put him on the same level as a Todd Heap.

Santonio drops too many balls, has character issues, doesn’t run crisp routes, has mental lapses, and isn’t a factor on special teams like we thought he would be. But he is 1000000x better than the other receivers that were ranked near him in that draft (Chad Jackson, Sinorice Moss). He is a solid #2 WR but we didn’t draft him for that purpose. We drafted him to be a deep threat and 1B opposite Hines’ 1A. So far Nate has been a better deep threat though Santonio has shown great ability with the ball in his hands. Maybe next year he will make the leap to #1 status but it hasn’t happened yet. He seems to have the ability but hasn’t put it all together.

Again, these guys are good but not great. When compared to other first rounders (Troy, Ben, Hamp, Timmons – almost) they are not yet what I expect with a first round choice.

by JHolmes on Dec 4, 2008 5:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Todd Heap

Is a pretty decent comparison except Heath stays healthy better. Also having been assigned Heath as an adopted steeler last year when I had DVR I used to watch him every play a few times to see how he did on his assignments. His blocking, while not exceptional, is excellent and almost never is the cause of a missed block.

His hands and YAC are both very good as well.

Someone did a post a long time ago that i’m too lazy to find that talked about Heath’s numbers when split out. He was the best TE in the league when in that formation. Basically it’s a TO type relationship, when you throw him the ball good things happen.

Also remember he was taken I think 31st in the draft or something like that. So he was far from a high draft pick.

’Tone’s having an off year so far, but I still think he was worth a #1. Had we had our offense figured out earlier in the year he’d have much better chances for good numbers.

by Chicago Steeler on Dec 5, 2008 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

miller's rookie year helped make the difference...

when the steelers won Super Bowl XL. When thrown the ball (which is definitely not enough) he rarely misses and is always falling forward dragging 2-3 guys with him.

His blocking is phenomenal and if the steelers oline didnt suck so bad he could be used more in the passing game.

And yes, I said the steelers o-line sucks, they have been solid as of late, but haven’t proven to me this year that they can handle a good pass rushing team. Beating Dallas would begin to convince me otherwise.

by bradyquinnsclipboard on Dec 2, 2008 10:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He was an upgrade over Tuman

That’s for sure.

by JHolmes on Dec 4, 2008 5:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

To Quote MR

“put this man in the Hall Of Fame!”

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Dec 2, 2008 5:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Tough situations = tough defense?

I’m going to throw something for you to consider. I am starting to believe that one of the reasons that the D is so tough and awesome has precisely been the bad situations that they have been put into.
It seems to me that whenever the Defense has had a shorter field to defend they tend to be more precise, seem to be more focused. Seems to me that Coach Lebeau calls a more agressive game whenever the situation is not very favorable to the Defense, and calls a more Bend-but-don’t-break game whenever field position is favorable to the defense. I always find myself asking why we keep giving opposing teams 12-15 yard cushions in the middle parts of the field.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The mere facts pointed out by MR on this excellent post make the Steelers D that much more remarkable.
The only thing that i want to point out is that, to me, those situations have tested the character of the Defense, and they have shown how truly well coached, and how professional they are in their preparation.

Lets keep this up for the rest of the season… as one very old but active coach once said: “give me a great defense and a punter that kicks it like a mule and that’s all we need”.

by The_Nation_in_Mexico on Dec 2, 2008 5:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It only makes sense

It’s purely a risk calculation and LeBeau is smart to play DBs off on the long side of the field and tighter on the short side. Getting behind a defender is less likely and less costly when the opponent is already on your side of the field: there is less room to cover and the yardage gained is less so there is less reason to play a DB off but when the opponents are pinned back a DB must be aware of at least the 45 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and the risk is a longer TD play then when the opponent is on the other side of the field.

But wait, you say, who cares because both long plays end in TDs which are 7 points from anywhere on the field? But look at the upside risk: stopping the 7 point play in an opponent’s end may net you good field position while stopping them in your end will yield bad field position or 3 points. Not to mention giving up a short pass (say five yards) from their 20 only gets the opponent 1/16 of the way to a TD while giving up a five yard pass from your 40 gets the opponent 1/8 of the way to a TD.

LeBeau is just playing the numbers when he plays DBs off the WR on the long side of the field. On that side of the field, the DBs have more room to cover, there is a better upside to stopping the big play, and short gains are less valuable. LeBeau was obviously a statistics major or an insurance adjuster to perform such complex risk calculations.

by CarlWeathersMustache on Dec 2, 2008 7:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cushions...

are the reason the Steelers don’t give up the big play. We make the offense earn every yard. That’s why the D is so good. Because we know that the more snaps the offense has to take, the better of a chance it gives our defensive playmakers to make a huge, game-changing play.

by JHolmes on Dec 2, 2008 8:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah good point, i have been thinking that but never had the time to put it up here, but i am right there with you. I think in the long run we are going to be the most prepared for playoffs because of these situations and because of our tough schedule. We do not have to sit around and wait for a challenge but face a a tough opponent almost every week of this season so the level of competition in the playoffs are going to be nothing new for us.

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 6:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

So I did some statistical digging of my own...

I first thought that PPG is in itself a deceiving stat. If one team faced several incompetent offenses and beat them up, they would have an unfairly weighted PPG. So what I did was take the top-10 defenses in PPG and then I went through their games individually and recorded the difference in the points they let up to the average PPG of the opposing offense. After getting those numbers, I wanted to break it down further and see how each defense did against teams with winning records, as good defenses should absolutely smother poor offenses, but how would they match up against quality teams?
Here are the overall averages first, followed by the averages against winning teams:
Pittsburgh: -6.9/-7.7
Tennessee: -7.1/-5.5
Baltimore: -4.5/-4.7
Tampa Bay: -6.8/-13.5
New York: -3.2/-7
Washington: -4.8/-7.4
Carolina: -4.7/-2.2
Atlanta: -2.7/1
Cleveland: -1.7/-1.7
Philadelphia: -0.9/-0.7

So after that analysis, a few interesting things showed itself.
-For one, us and Baltimore seem to be consistent across good and bad teams, and we seem to be consistently better.
-The Giants, Bucs and Skins all seem to elevate their game against better competition. The Giants stats seem to point towards last year, when they raised their game for the higher competition of the playoffs. I would be very surprised if they did not make it to the Super Bowl again this year. I think hands down we have the best defense, but I think we are talking about the wrong team on our heels. Tampa Bay, who usually does have a top-tier D, has a differential practically equal with ours, but unlike the Titans (who I’ve always preached are good, but beat up weaker teams, and aren’t as good against stiff competition…these numbers seem to speak the same) they play well against tough competition, frighteningly well in fact.
-I’m removing the last 4 teams from further discussion for obvious reasons, but here is a list of how often each team let up more points than the average, and for how much:
PIT-0.9 against JAX, 2.6 against IND
TEN-5.7 against NYJ
BAL-0.6 against PIT, 9.6 against IND, 9.2 against CLE, 0.7 against NYG
TB-0.6 against CHI, 9 against KC, 3.1 against DET
NYG-10.4 against CIN, 17.2 against CLE, 4.4 against PHI, 0.8 against ARI
WAS-5.8 against STL, 0.1 against DET, 0.6 against PIT

The Steelers have the smallest ‘positive’ game at 2.6, and we all know which side of the ball we can put that on. The only other one was a one point difference to Jacksonville at the beginning of the year, with 7 of that on Ben’s pick-six! Looking at all these numbers and games, it’s clear to me that at the least, Pittsburgh has by FAR the most consistent defense. I have total confidence in them dismantling any offenses game, as not one has yet proven to have a good day against us. Our SB hopes ride on our offense. All the other Ds in the league have proven to be vulnerable. If our offense can perform, we know the D will hold their end, all the O needs to do is outpace the meager amount of points the other team will be able to scrounge together.

by TheCincinnatiConqueror on Dec 2, 2008 6:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i am not exactly sure how long you did this or how accurate it is or if it really resembles how good the defense is but I am buying it.

Almost anyway you slice it, the steelers still have the best defense in the league with an offense that hasn’t lived to their potential.

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 6:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

the basic principle in this stat

is to show how your defense comparatively stacks up to other defenses that played the exact same team. If your defense is truly good, you should let up less points than other defenses who have played the same team. Instead of the usual PPG stat, which compiles you vs. 12 teams (at the moment), this basically uses data from you against 12 teams, and the 11 other teams they’ve faced. 12×11=132 points of data. If you’ve ever taken a stats class, the more data you can gather, the more accurate your stats should be.

by TheCincinnatiConqueror on Dec 2, 2008 6:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good Job

yeah i knew it had something to do with that but i just got out of class and my brain is fried so i didn’t wanna sit and figure out how you did that for myself.

by Bleed-Black&Gold on Dec 2, 2008 6:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Some historical stats for those that may be interested

Since this is a post about this year’s Steelers defense, which has been very good, I thought about putting it in context with some of the great Steelers defenses from the past.

Obviously, a defense can be measured by many factors, but I will just go by scoring average (points allowed per game) to make things a bit easier for myself. If anyone else wants to post turnovers or another statistic, be my guest.

Anyway, here are the best Steeler defenses in terms of points allowed per game in the Super Bowl era:

1976 Steelers 9.9 (lost in AFCCG)
1975 Steelers 11.6 (won Super Bowl)
1978 Steelers 12.2 (won Super Bowl)
1972 Steelers 12.5 (lost in AFCCG)
2001 Steelers 13.3 (lost in AFCCG)
1974 Steelers 13.5 (won Super Bowl)
1992 Steelers 14.1 (lost in AFC divisional round)
2008 Steelers 14.2
1994 Steelers 14.6 (lost in AFCCG)
1973 Steelers 15.0 (lost in AFC divisional round)
1990 Steelers 15.0 (didn’t qualify for postseason)

By the way, these scoring averages against all rank in the top 100 all time. It’s amazing that we have 10 spots in that 100, and are about to put up an 11th with this year’s edition.

It is a different era now compared to the early 70s, but many people probably didn’t realize that the 1990, 1992, 1994 and 2001 units were comparable.

If I have time, maybe I’ll follow up with a post about how many turnovers these teams generated and how it ranked vs the league.

In short, I do agree with the basic premises of Maryrose’s blog. The defense has been very good and is in general not helped much by the Steeler’s offense and special teams (punting). Hopefully, that will not come back to haunt us in the playoffs. I suspect that if we lose in the playoffs, we’ll be blaming the offense and/or punting, much like special teams cost us in 2001 (ST was a problem all year that year).

I’ll also add that the defense is putting up impressive numbers against a very tough schedule. Sometimes a defense can look better than it really is due to a weak schedule or playing in unplayable conditions. Compare last year’s schedule vs this year’s schedule for instance to see the difference.

by steeler1275 on Dec 2, 2008 7:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Great stuff

Makes you really appreciate that 1976 team. Less than 10 points a game is absolutely insane. They were very special to watch, but the season did end up disappointing

Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history

by maryrose on Dec 2, 2008 7:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think

You should look at what type of teams you all lost to in the post season… that seems like a more telling stat to me

Life is nothing but Beats & Rhymes

by Matchz Malone on Dec 2, 2008 7:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Turnovers generated those years

Here are the turnovers generated for those teams listed above. Some of those teams only played 14 game seasons, so I will include projected # over 16 games as well for ease of comparison. And since it is a different brand of football now, I will also include how they ranked in the league.

1976 46 proj: 53 (rank 5)
1975 37 proj: 42 (rank 13)
1978 48 proj: 48 (rank 2)
1972 48 proj: 55 (rank 1)
2001 28 proj: 28 (rank 16)
1974 47 proj: 54 (rank 1)
1992 43 proj: 43 (rank 1)
2008 20 proj: 27 (rank 13)
1994 31 proj: 31 (rank 13)
1973 55 proj: 63 (rank 1)
1990 42 proj: 42 (rank 3)

This really lends further credence to how many special defensive units we’ve had in the past.

Turnovers were more plentiful in the 70s, but those great defensive teams still usually ranked at or near the top most years. In fact, from 1972 to 1979 (8 year period), they ranked 1, 1, 1, 13, 5, 5, 2, and 8 (mean = 4.5, mode = 1, median = 3.5). That’s simply incredible. (I say those stats, along with the points against that they posted warrant another HOFer or two from those defensive units, maybe LC Greenwood. But that’s another issue.)

Looks like we weren’t too shabby in the early/mid 1990s either. From 1990 to 1997 (another 8 year period), they ranked 3, 17, 1, 3, 13, 9, 2 and 4 (mean = 7, mode = 3, median = 3.5). That’s almost as impressive as the 70s units. (I guess a team with Woodson and Lloyd in their prime for most of those years is sure to generate their share of turnovers, especially when they are supplemented by Brown, Kirkland, Greene etc.)

This year’s version is only adequate in terms of forcing turnovers, although a couple more games like last week will shoot them up the rankings. One problem however, is that only Harrison and Polamalu are the type of players than can consistently generate turnovers on our team. Woodley and Timmons (and maybe Gay, he seems to have good ball recognition skills) may help more consistently in that department in time, but they are not there yet. The rest of the defensive players are turnover averse.

By the way. This is only an observation. If anything, it’s meant as a quibble, not a criticism. I love this year’s unit. But turnovers can mean the difference between winning and losing. Imagine for instance if Ike catches that interception against the Colts instead of it going for a 70 yard td to Wayne. And before anyone says that was a fluky play, remember that Moss almost caught a td last week after it clanged off Ike’s hands. If the Patriots go into halftime up 17-10, who knows how that game turns out. We often will note drops by our wr, but a drop by a db can be just as bad, if not worse.

By the way, the league leader in turnovers is currently Chicago with 26, so we’re not that far off the pace. Tennessee is 2nd with 25 and TB is 3rd with 24. Not too surprising. Chicago has usually been near the top over the past several years, and Tenn and TB have pretty good units obviously. After that, there’s a cluster of teams. Denver is last with 12. Again, not really surprising.

by steeler1275 on Dec 3, 2008 2:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Turnovers

I’d actually be a little more worried if our D was taking the ball away at an extraordinary rate. The reason is that I’ve seen teams with vaunted defenses get to the playoffs and be exposed. They did a great job in the regular season being opportunistic and getting turnovers from other teams’ sloppy plays at times. But, then when they hit the playoffs, the team would get frustrated by a team that took better care of the ball. I’d rather be a team that can win without relying on turnovers than one that can’t seem to win unless they get more than a couple. This defense has been so consistent, that I think it bodes well for us in the playoffs. Of course, I know, I already said in the other thread that I’m not ready to say this is the team to beat in the AFC. But, I definitely appreciate the consistency of the defense, even with a 4-5 key injuries at various points in the year.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Dec 3, 2008 12:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We'd have a lot more

If Ike could catch the damn ball, and if BMac were healthy all year.

by JHolmes on Dec 4, 2008 5:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We should all pitch in

to the Ike Taylor new hands fund…I’m sure there’s a scientist somewhere that can help us out.

by TheCincinnatiConqueror on Dec 4, 2008 7:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Vikings are killin it SEVEN Rushing yards per game... AMAZING

LOL… lil typo there

Life is nothing but Beats & Rhymes

by Matchz Malone on Dec 2, 2008 7:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Got that corrected

It’s 73

Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history

by maryrose on Dec 2, 2008 9:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Some good points in everyone's post

1. I agree, Ravens scare me…God I hate the Ravens (Pats #2)

2. Our tough schedule will help in the long run. We will have faced the best offenses and best defenses…come playoff time that will be huge.

3. “Miller not lived up to status.” I completely disagree. The guy does it all and is a great teammate. BA called him the best TE in the league. There might be some with better stats but I would not trade him for any other TE.

As unbelievable as our D has been, we can’t over rely on them. There may come a point in these tough games, or especially playoffs, where a good offense, gets some lucky breaks, good bounces, bad officiating etc and puts up 24+ points. I hope it doesn’t happen, but it may. That’s when the offense will have to pick up the slack and carry the D…that will be a change for this season…

by SteelerMike on Dec 2, 2008 9:11 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Cant wait for McFadden to come back...

i’m not saying William Gay hasn’t held his own, but McFadden was a turnover machine before he went down, which will only make the defense that much more sick. Love having guys like Deshea and Gay for depth or in various defensive alignments.

Where the draft analyzers @ now that said the steelers needed dbs?

by bradyquinnsclipboard on Dec 2, 2008 10:51 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

What's this defenses' nickname going to be?

This is a D that will be remembered for all time. Surprising there hasn’t been a nickname attributed to them yet. These guys spell the death of offensive progress for any team, and thus need an appropiate monikor.

by SteelersVT on Dec 3, 2008 7:50 AM EST reply actions 0 recs