How The Steelers Defense Works, Part 1 - The Secondary

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 20, 2008 10:33 PM EDT Comment 24 comments

I wanted to string a couple pieces together before the regular season, starting with an in-depth preview of what you can expect in '08 from the newest installment of the Steel Curtain. I'm going to try to go fairly in-depth to explain what our defense does, and how it works (which may be old hat to some of you), and explain the strengths and weaknesses (there aren't many) of our defense, while also highlighting how many different looks we give opposing teams. Let me throw out a bold claim first though; this years defense will be better than last years, and will be able to play as good as they did in the first 9 games last year, for the whole season this year, putting themselves in the ring as one of the best defenses of all-time. To make this easier to read, I'm breaking it down into 3 sections, (secondary, LBs, D-Line), and what they are responsible for, and different things they do to confuse offenses. Today we'll start with.....

The Secondary: Our "base" defense as everyone knows is a 3-4, 'zone' blitz scheme. While 'zone blitz' is something mostly applicable with linemen and linebackers, we also play alot of zone schemes behind this with our DBs and the coverage linebackers, who are each responsible for a specific area (zone) of the field. For example, the reason Ike Taylor let Randy Moss run inside on that first deep touchdown against New England, was because Taylor was responsible for the outside zone, and Anthony Smith was responsible for the inside zone. Hence, Taylor "handed off" the receiver to Smith. When you integrate these responsibilities with how often our linebackers are blitzing, you can see how this can become complex, and tough for an offense to figure out where there might be "seams" in the zones. As an example, particularly with guys like Polamalu (and Timmons this year) you'll see Troy near the line of scrimmage, and our two inside line backers at their usual position. Upon the snap, one (or both) of the inside line backers will blitz, vacating the zone in the middle of the field, and Troy will sprint into that zone to take care of any offensive players who may be looking to find themselves open. This is one of the many ways we take advantage of the fantastic athleticism of guys like Polamalu.

We play a multitude of coverage looks behind the front 7: man-to-man, zone, cover 2, and cover 3. If we are in a man-to-man, generally you'll see Ike Taylor follow the other teams best receiver. In cover 2, you'll actually see Taylor or Townsend drop back as the other "safety" along with Ryan Clark, and Polamalu will come to the line of scrimmage where he'll either bump the receiver on whichever CB dropped back's side of the ball, or he'll be among the O-linemen dancing around creating havoc. In a cover 3 our two CBs, and the free safety, will each cover one third of the field, and Troy will act as a linebacker. Typically we use this more at the beginning of games, when teams are more likely to run the ball, as it essentially gives us 8 guys in the "box" and limits big pass plays. Both Taylor & Townsend are excellent bump & run type players, although we don't run a ton of this; mostly because we like to give a cushion so our corners can read the play first and react if it is a running play. By playing bump & run it effectively makes it impossible for those two corners to be involved in helping on a run play.

Generally, in our defense, you need smart cornerbacks (Ricardo Colclough need not apply) who understand zones and angles. One reason Townsend is so effective is because he has such a great understanding of the defense. All in all, our secondary does an excellent job of limiting big plays and dares offensive coordinators to deviate from their game plan (since many teams don't plan to dink & dunk--except the Pats of 07, who's offense I thought was a direct response to the 3-4 defense, with quick short passes from a shotgun spread formation), this has been a staple of LeBeau for a long time, and further reinforced by Tomlin. A potential weakness is if there isn't communication, the "seams" (imaginary line separating the zones) can be exploited. Sometimes it's as simple as a tight end running right along the seam of a zone and both DB's assuming the other guy is going to get him-- leaving him wide open. That being said, I don't see this often with our guys. Lastly, the main problem with many of our coverages is they are more adverse to allowing the short pass (see, Patriots game). The solution is either getting better/more consistent pressure on the quarterback, or having extremely athletic players at the position we will talk about next.......the Linebackers.

Thoughts, Comments, Questions?

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Comments

Thanks for the article, it was extremely enlightening.

One question though, Why would the Pat’s 2007 offense be crafted to counter the 3-4 zone scheme when the 4-3 is so much more popular right now? I mean, they haven’t actually had a lot of trouble getting passed the Steelers D in the last few years.

by BluegrassSteeler on Aug 20, 2008 11:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

if you look around the league.....

most the best defensive teams play a 3-4. New England, San Diego, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Baltimore plays an even amount of both…. Regardless, look at what the New England offense does. First, it spreads the field wide….this essentially serves to dare defenses like the Steelers to either match up with LBs on WRs, or to bring the blitz that they want to bring anyways. We don’t like to be dictated too so we bring the blitz anyways. Here comes the swing part, if our LBs can’t get significant pressure (we got in Brady’s face in that game but couldn’t hit him), then Brady, who has exceptional skill at completing quick, accurate passes, will be able to hit one of his WRs, especially the slot receiver, who probably is open, or being covered by an ILB who can’t keep up with him, OR if the ILBs blitzed (our most commonly run blitz is an X-blitz with both ILBs) then the receiver has to be picked up by a late arriving safety who might not have a great angle that quickly. (Welker had a big day on us). Basically, in general the offense is designed to maximize Brady’s strength, making quick, accurate timing passes across the middle, which just so coincidentally is one of the best ways to attack a 3-4 defense. Plus Belichick has said before that Pittsburgh (and Indy recently) are always his measuring sticks. Now, it still comes down to execution, if our LBs got better pressure, it might not matter. But you have to have fantastic LB or line play to get pressure quick enough to stop a quick pass. Right after the New England game I said we should’ve used alot of our “heavy” package, with the 4 man line of Smith, Hoke, Hampton, Keisel, two LBs, and 5 DBs. We may have been reluctant because Foote isn’t great in coverage, but Timmons could solve that this year. We used that package against Seattle, who also use alot of quick passes, to much success. Regardless, I’ll touch on this more in-depth in the linebacker segment.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 20, 2008 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice article

and this reply is also appreciated.

by tkired on Aug 21, 2008 2:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

good job TMVT

I’ll be watching to see the situations when Ike drops back almost like a safety. Having a hard time visualising that. Been too long!

Good post, keep em coming.

by Blitzburgh on Aug 21, 2008 12:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

it is weird

and they don’t drop all the way back….just like 10-15 yards off the line, while Troy or a LB will have the “flat” responsibilities on that side. and if the side only has one receiver, the LB/Troy will usually blitz, and Ike (or Shea) will take the one receiver. However if there are two receivers on that side then the LB/Troy will stay covering the flat. On top of all this, I can’t wait to see what new wrinkles LeBeau has come up with this year. He always makes great off-season adjustments, and I’d expect him to have something planned to tighten up against quick strike offenses like the Pats.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 21, 2008 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

wow

thank you for that. Brilliant post. Very well written.
I feel like I just went from undergrad to grad school.
I would love to know how I can learn more about defensive schemes….

by SteelerBuddha on Aug 21, 2008 1:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

two more

parts to come. honestly, i’m just one of those people who when I am passionate about something (in this case; Steelers football, I gobble up all the knowledge I can. ask questions of people who played D1 ball (i swam D1 in college—had a few football buddies), questions of people who are just long time fans who understand the game, and mostly, with the internet nowadays you can read all about it. the reason I’m writing these is to condense the knowledge I’ve soaked up and pass it on to my fellow Steelers fans.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 21, 2008 1:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and

thanks for the compliment.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 21, 2008 1:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the knowledge.

In today’s information age, its nice when you get some knowledge. Thanks for distilling all that info!

by herewegosteelers on Aug 21, 2008 8:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good Piece!

I think the most vulnerable thing with this 3-4 scheme which i love is that it can really hang our safeties out to dry if intelligence isn’t implemented or a a persons lack of athletic ability.

by C-Mac on Aug 21, 2008 10:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Interesting post

While our defense may be better this year than last, we don’t get the benefit of playing Losman, Alex Smith, Charlie Frye, Clemens, and Beck. If we’re in the top 5-8, I’ll be happy.

A couple other thoughts:

Standard blitzes use man-to man coverage with little or no deep zone “saftety nets”, in an attempt to force a quick pass to a tightly covered receiver. If the offense can get a quick slant off and a broken tackle, the result is often a touchdown. The “zone blitz” usually sends several guys in one area, while players from other ares (usually including the DL) “roll” coverage to the vacated spots. The advantages are that the defense can have 2 DL’s and 2-3 blitzers on 3 OL’s, and the QB has to make a quick decision against a confusing defense. The disadvantages are that it’s terrible against the run (because of the retreating DL), and if the OL can pick up the blitz, there’s usually a mismatch somewhere. We generally play a cover-2 or cover-3 with 1 or 2 blitzing LB’s, which I guess in some sense is a “zone blitz”, but not in the traditional sense of the term. Most of our creative blitzes come on 3rd and long out of nickel or dime packages (for the layman: packages where 1 or 2 LB/DL’s are replaced with DB’s).

I’ve noticed that we played more cover-2 last year than LeBeau’s traditional staple, the cover-3. TMVT gave the basics of those defenses, but here’s my supplimental guide. Cover-2 is more of a “safe” defense with a couple holes, while cover-3 has very few holes, but also is a little more of a gamble. In cover-2, the 2 safeties split the deep field and cover anyone who gets downs there. The CB’s line up on the receivers and cover short routes around the sidelines and the flats once the WR’s leave their zone, while the LB’s cover the middle of the field. It’s a safe defense because everyone just sticks to their zone, and there’s no way outrun the coverage. The main seams in the coverage are the handoff between the CB and the safety, and between the 2 safeties, since they’re covering the whole field. Watch Santonio’s TD catch against the Bills for a great example of the first. The second is succeptible to WR post routes and TE’s running up the middle of the field past the LB’s.

Cover-3 has both CB’s and one safety covering the deep zone. The other safety joins a LB or two in covering the middle of the field. Usually LB’s will cover the flats, but in some cases they’ll blitz, leaving the flats open if the QB notices. The risks of the defense lie mostly in that the CB’s line up against the WR’s, but are responsible for covering them deep. If you wonder why we give WR’s such big cushions a lot of the time, this is why. If a CB makes a mistake or just gets burned, there’s no real backup plan, so they give themselves a 10 yard head start. The only clear hole in the defense is that short area before the LB’s get over to cover the flat, because the CB’s have to play safe. Smart teams have thrown quick hitches out there, and if they can make the CB miss, they have nice 15 yard gain. Cover-3 relies in a huge way on the speed and intelligence of the CB’s. IMO, lightning fast Ike is best suited for Cover-3, while the quick, ball-savvy, but slower Deshea is best suited for Cover-2.

We played more cover-2 this year, which I think is part of the reason Deshea was so lights out and why we didn’t give up big plays until Anthony Smith started biting on play-action from the FS spot. That’s interesting about the CB taking the deep zone in cover-2. I don’t remember seeing that, but I’ll look out for it. Like I said, though, Ike is fast enough to take the deep zone, while Troy is a little quicker and probably plays the ball better, so it makes sense.

by BadMaafala on Aug 21, 2008 10:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

CB

doesn’t always take the deep zone in the cover 2, just seen it sometimes when they want to have Troy running around confusing the QB. I didn’t think we played alot more cover 2 shells this year than previous years; the players even said as much during the season. people just notice more because they are looking for it now that Tomlin is the coach. You hit on it exactly when you mentioned the flats and how they are the responsibility of the LBs, which I’ll discuss in the LB’s piece coming later on today/tonight.

I’ll also touch on it in the LBs and DL piece, but rarely do we rush (even on blitzes) more than 5 or 6 guys. It’s just that we’ll overload one side, or we’ll disguise so they think everyone is coming and not know who to block.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 21, 2008 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great info

I’ll probably forget half of this stuff, but it’s great to get such good, clear explanations of our D and what they’re doing. I’ll have to try to start looking for these specifics in the games to learn what they actually look like on the field. Thanks for all of the good info.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Aug 21, 2008 10:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

once you get the basics

and then watch some games, it starts to fill in the other blanks for you and you can see what the defense is trying to force the offense to do throughout the game.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 21, 2008 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I’ll have to see it to get a better understanding. I’m pretty much a visual learner, so it’s hard sometimes for me to get what’s going on from reading about it. I do wish that they would show the whole team sometimes. Most of what you get on TV is a zoom in on where the ball is, so you really can’t see what the entire defense is doing.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Aug 21, 2008 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Love it...

I could talk about this all day. Im a big fun of breaking down a defense myself so that was a fun read. Some stuff i didnt even know. Like i always wondered why our corners play off so much. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Sounds like Troy has even more responsibility than most people think. They think the line bouncing is all for show, but they dont understand the athleticism it takes to do what he does. Thats why im praying he stays healthy. Then Lebeau can really dial up the heat. Also i think they would be crazy to not keep Timmons in the game as much as possible. Your right, he covers alot better than Foote. We cant have speed like that on the sidelines just because Foote knows the scheme a little better. Bring on the linebackers segment!

by SteelerDomination on Aug 21, 2008 4:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thank you MVT

Could you explain how the Giants won the Super Sowl with their 4-3 in another chapter? Do you think others teams (like the Steelers) learned anything? Or do the Giants have talent at certain positions that other teams do not have? Also, how come the Patriots had their way with the Giants a few weeks earlier in the regular season? Did the Giants play basic to not give away anything? Or am I overanalyzing everything and sometimes things just happen differently in football?

by maryrose on Aug 22, 2008 8:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd have to watch the game again

But it looked like the Giants had about 5 DE’s in on every play. A guy like Justin Tuck is an asset because he can play both DE and DT. Against the Pats, a run stuffing NT is useless because they don’t run, but a hybrid DE/DT like Tuck is great. Add in Strahan and Osi, with everybody jacked through the roof and you have one tough job in blocking them. I doubt the Giants were holding stuff back in the regular season game; the effectiveness of their offense suggests the opposite. Instead, they probably used knowledge gained through that game and all the other games the Pats almost lost to develop a strategy. The DL was clearly pumped up. The Pats got off to a rough start with a couple slow developing plays that backfired and never got into a rhythm.

I hope we modify our game a little when we play the Pats this year. Haggans and Hampton were worthless in the game last year, but it wasn’t all their fault. Hampton is a run stuffer, and when the other team passes 85% of the time (that’s right, 85%), it’s basically an 11 on 10 scenario. Also, they kept putting Haggans on Welker, which I shouldn’t need to say is a mismatch. If we’re smart this year, we’ll put Smith and Keisel on the DL all day and put out another DB. If Timmons, Troy, and Clark are all healthy and on the field most of the time, that’s a lot more althleticism and smarts than we had last year.

If we learned anything from the SB (and the whole second half of the season), it’s that the Pats don’t run, so we shouldn’t honor the run. Everyone in the front 7 needs to be a threat to rush the QB, even if that weakens our run defense. We should send some combo of Smith, Keisel, Woodley, Harrison, Timmons, Farrior, Troy, and an occasional Deshea after Brady on every play, trying to out-athletic the Pats line. If we can get pressure, it takes away the deep passing game. They might be able to dink and dunk some, but if we put Deshea and Troy on Welker all day, even that will be tough going.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Aug 22, 2008 10:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah

Part of it was that the Patsies just didn’t look their normal crisp self. Their Oline had looked amazing all season long and then just lost its sh!t in the one game that counted. maybe the giants used different signals in the regular season then the super bowl and the Pats couldn’t account for why their cheating wasn’t working.

I agree that we’ll need to do wise blitzing and it will help to have Timmons and Troy (crossed fingers he stays healthy) against them. Some quickness around the middle of the field makes it harder for Welker to work the short stuff.

by Chicago Steeler on Aug 22, 2008 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Curse the Dolphins!

Before last season when I heard that Welker was let go by the Dolphins to the Patriots….I couldn’t believe it. That guy is like an energizer bunny. What were they thinking? Last year it I swear it seemed that every time they got into a third down situation he was their guy and he’d do it too.

Every time I think about the Giants beating the Crapiots I get a little smile deep in my football soul. The pressure on Brady was what you think we should be doing to them every time we play. I agree with you on the run thing – stop Brady, cut off the head, and the rest will wither. Think back on the in-season game against them in 2004 – now that was sweet.

by SCSteeler on Aug 22, 2008 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

November 30th - circle it

Time to take it to the patsies people.

GOT to attack Brady and MUST get to him, and early and often.

Zone blitzburgh attacking defense with Polamalu and Timmons and others closing quickly on receivers.

We owe the pats big time, hopefully we arrive in New England HEALTHY and on a roll – that’s the time of the season we need to be both. 10 days off before the game.

by herewegosteelers on Aug 22, 2008 11:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Very Good Article

Thanks, I’ve been a Steeler fan for 31 years, and have been just that, “a cheering fan”. It’s posts like yours that have made me look further into the games and decipher what is actually going on. Keep it up!

by PolishSteeler on Aug 24, 2008 11:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I just got a visual of Silverback

Bodyslamming Tom Brady like he did the browns fan in my avatar.

"Damnit mom! You almost ran over Greg Lloyd!"

at an autograph signing back in 95. He walked out in front of our minivan, and my mom almost hit him. He apologized.

by PA ARMY OFFICER on Aug 26, 2008 12:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Townsend & Taylor

some of you may have noticed, for those that didn’t Townsend and Taylor have switched sides, we started this last year against the Patriots. We now put Taylor on the right, as many teams now put their best receiver on that side so that he can get a one on one matchup. This plays into Taylor’s strengths, as he is better one on one, than having to diagnose multiple receivers on his side of the field. Townsend (who is much better in route recognition) now will man the left side. Look for some new wrinkles with those two switched up. Typically when we run CB blitzes, it was Townsend, now it may be Taylor, who should be an excellent blitzer with his blazing speed (ran a 4.24 without warming up!!). In fact, in the game against Carolina last night, Taylor came on a CB blitz, and the pressure he put on the QB resulted in a Bryant McFadden interception. I expect big things from Ike this year on that side.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 29, 2008 3:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs