Our defense without Aaron Smith

by Pola-Gona-Maul-U on Oct 14, 2009 8:30 AM EDT

Just as we were about to get Troy Polamalu back, by far our most valuable defensive back player, we lose Aaron Smith to a shoulder injury that could keep him sidelined the rest of the season. The coaches have a tough decision to make. Put Smith on the IR or hope to have him back by January in time for the playoffs?

The question is, can we even make the playoffs without Smith?

The last time Smith missed game time due to injury was in 2007. He missed four games -- one of which in the playoffs -- and we lost three of those. The only game we won was against the lonesome Rams.

Up until Smith's injury, the Steelers' defense was allowing a tremendous 245 yards per game. Once Smith went down, we allowed 357 yards average in the final three regular season games. Not only that, but we could hardly contain any running back. Fred Taylor stomped over us for 147 yards, Steven Jackson busted 85 yards, and Cory Ross along with Musa Smith combined for a total 155 yards rushing. Neither of those two is playing for the NFL anymore.

The defense did step it up statistically against in the playoffs when we contained Jacksonville to 246 yards, but they still ended up beating us with 31 points (to be fair, 7 points were on a pick-six).

When Smith was healthy, the Steelers allowed an average of 14.5 points per game. Once he was out, they allowed roughly 28 points a game.

The players who will rotate in and out to replace Smith this year will be Travis Kirshke, Nick Eason and our first-round pick, Evander (Ziggy) Hood. Tomlin said Hood is not ready to handle the role by himself. The first two, Kirshke and Eason, were the same players who replaced Smith in 2007, but they have improved their play noticeably since then.

Part of me is excited to see what Hood can do in the role, but I'm not ready to face teams like Baltimore and Minnesota without a solid and proven Smith to plug in their rushing attacks or create lanes for the linebackers.

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I think that Travis Kirschke right now will be the starter and Ziggy Hood will get some playing time behind him.

I think that after the bye week, Ziggy Hood will be the starter

by lightningrod on Oct 14, 2009 10:18 AM EDT reply actions

tough loss

i love Smitty and he will be missed in more ways than one but this could be the time for the rookie to step in there and get some sacks and make a name for himself. here’s to hoping he fills in nicely.

by WARDANE33 on Oct 14, 2009 10:52 AM EDT reply actions

Dale Lolley says that Ziggy Hood will be unleashed as the starter, after the bye week

http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/2009/10/steelers-could-get-polamalu-parker-back.html

Scroll down there to the Comments section, bottom of the article

Good article on Sunny Harris here

http://pit.scout.com/2/909026.html

Excerpt:

Born in Pensacola, Fla., Harris grew up in Pittsburg, Ca., and chose to play collegiately at the University of Oregon. He studied behind future NFL stars Igor Olshansky and Haloti Ngata before becoming a starter his senior year, when he made 47 tackles and had 9 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.

continued there at url…

by lightningrod on Oct 14, 2009 10:58 AM EDT reply actions

We are screwed.

I remember ’07 when Smith went down teams just ran at our left side and it was 4 yards a pop every time. Granted it hurt that we didnt have Troy or Ryan Clark for a few of those games but Smith is a HUGE loss. Especially with Denver and Minnesota coming up next.

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Oct 14, 2009 11:19 AM EDT reply actions

Looks like we’ve been playing with an injured Aaron smith all year

http://pit.scout.com/2/909026.html

Excerpt:

Those close to Smith believe he entered the game in Detroit on Sunday with the problem, and aggravated the injury in the second quarter. He left the game and returned several times in the third quarter, before finally leaving for good late in the quarter after Lions fullback Jerome Felton ran 8 yards on a 3rd-and-7 play.

continued there at url…

Ziggy and The Sunny Will Rise This Year

by lightningrod on Oct 14, 2009 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Smith has been really really good this year. Then again he is the best 3-4 DE in the league so a hurt Smith would still do a great job.

Basically I am scared…

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Oct 14, 2009 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

well...

Wasn’t he out in 08 a bit, and we managed right?

07 was a disaster but we also didnt have Polamalu then either. So perhaps, without the TWO we are screwed.

by Mechem on Oct 14, 2009 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I suspected that Smith was playing hurt.

He seemed a bit sub-par in the last few games and that was fishy because Smith’s a 100% guy.

by Billy52 on Oct 14, 2009 11:42 AM EDT reply actions

I hate to see rookie DLs -

any rookies, really – thrown into the mix too early, but I believe that Ziggy and Sunny are closer to ready than most rookies. It also seems that Sunny is the more natural replacement for Smith than Hood, more of a stay-at-home run stuffer.

Smith’s greatest asset, though (IMHO) is his ability to read the play early and shed blockers, both skills which develop over time. When you hear about the game “slowing down” for players, that’s what it means.

My heros have always been Steelers...

by wozzle on Oct 14, 2009 12:05 PM EDT reply actions

Ziggy and Harris are both 6’3" 300lbs.

I’m not sure, but I think that Harris is stronger

by lightningrod on Oct 14, 2009 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Nope

Ziggy put up 34 reps compared to 28 for Harris. However, Harris has ben a natural in camp.

by 72Steeler on Oct 14, 2009 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Sacks will go up..

but so will the rushing yards of our opponents.
I think Hood will get a good share of the passing downs, but if we get caught pressuring the QB on a run down, he could get burned on a running play.
Overall a downer, but not as big a loss as Polamalu.

I wasn’t pleased because we didn’t win - Mike Tomlin (after the 2009 week 2 loss to Chicago).

by fanofsteel on Oct 14, 2009 12:45 PM EDT reply actions

If he was hurt all season perhaps

that is why he hasn’t been as effective as he has been. I don’t think the Steelers will be as bad as they were in 2007 without Aaron Smith because the bigger reason for the defensive collapse of the defense was the fact that Tomlin wore them out during the season in practices and they were running on fumes by the time Smith got hurt. Eason and Kirschke are adequate replacements and Tomlin learned from his rookie mistake. I agree with what wozzle said earlier, I am scared of rookies too, but Hood may be able to develop into a serviceable lineman this year. The problem is the Dick LeBeau defense is very confusing for rookies and takes at least a year to grow into it. Even Polamalu and Timmons were lost and ineffective as rookies. Harris is strictly for depth. I doubt he’ll dress this season. regardless I think Hood and Harris are the future and if they can realize their potential they will become very valuable assets to the franchise.

by BubbyBrister6 on Oct 14, 2009 2:02 PM EDT reply actions

Remember

Troy was not 100% that year either. I think that was equally responsible for the defensive decline along with Smith’s injury and wear and tear.

by CarlWeathersMustache on Oct 14, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

I actually kinda just said something like that above before scrolling down.

I honestly think without Troy P and Smith we could have problems. One of them, we may survive.

It now begs the question, do we put Troy in this week?

by Mechem on Oct 14, 2009 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m a little more confident than i was in ‘07. Hood has been poetry since his draft, works hard, big strong kid. Yeah, he’s not A. Smith, but he should be a fairly serviceable replacement, provided that huge things aren’t expected. What we do need is for Wood to step up and create the pressure that Smith was creating. I don’t know whether Zig has the ability to shed blocks and get into the back field, but he definitely has enough strength to tie up the blockers. Woodley needs to take advantage of that

by mojo88 on Oct 14, 2009 6:37 PM EDT reply actions

Also

I know Woodley played DE in college. Yes, 4-3. But is there any chance he could play a little 3-4 DE, or just not big enough?

by mojo88 on Oct 14, 2009 6:42 PM EDT reply actions

Dont think he should

First of all he needs to play a little better at his job, OLB. He’s been crap all year.

I dont know who’s gonna fill in for him there but to me he needs to get his shit together on the OLB front before we even think about moving him.

by Mechem on Oct 14, 2009 7:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Ziggy will have to learn fast now

Nothing like trial under fire to accelerate a young player’s development. Sure we’ll see some goofs but hopefully also a few flashes of brilliance. That’s why Tomlin chose this guy first.

by Billy52 on Oct 15, 2009 2:25 PM EDT reply actions