is it time to go to a 4-3 defense?

We don’t hav anybody who can pass rush from the DE spots. Harrison and Woodley or too undersized to survive. We just don’t have the peices. Besides it the secondary that needs help no the rest is fine

is starting to become ancient, because most teams are using a 3-4 or some form or the 3-4, would you rather have 2 DE’s that only rush, or 2 OLB’s that can rush and cover?

We do not have the personnel for a 4-3. We drafted our players specifically for a 3-4. And we have the best 3-4 defensive coach in the NFL. This is your worst suggest yet.

Like after the cincy lost, I said we might collapse? BTW, what do we do about the NT situation? Criticism is fine, please come up with a better solution! Who plays NT is Casey walks? BTW, he wasnt extended, that should tell you something…dont say Hoke, who is not an every down NT any more, at his age he is a good backup..

offering nothing but a “pooh pooh” isn’t good discussion. I flat don’t know what we’d do without Casey in the middle. Chris is getting older and might not be the every week guy. Several folks on the roster are starting to be attractive to the folks at the Social Security Adminstration. I’m not sure 4-3 would be the answer. With a smaller line up [read that no moose like Casey], the last thing I would recommend is moving guys into positions on the line where they would lock up with offensive behemoths. Good question to ponder.

I’m pretty sure Tomlin coached a 4-3 defense at Minnesota and I suspect he prefers it. Now that the defense is looking so bad, he might make the change. Awful tough to make this degree of change in mid-season though.

We still might not get him…What is the solution then??

At least situationally. Our 4 man rush is usually Deebo and Woodley – both small compared to the giant OTs they go against. Then we have Hoke and another rush from over the Guards. This usually has mediocre results – the two guys over the guards are 3-4 DEs who can’t rush the passer very well anyway.

Our D Line is ill-suited to rush the passer. Our OLBs are the best we have but since holding bacame legal the last 5 years, it is getting harder to apply pressue while giving up 80-120 lbs a man every play.

I don’t know why we don’t get a more hybrid D Line guy or two. If not playing DT, one of them can play NG when Hampton is getting a breather. Most of the best teams play both structures during games. I wouldn’t call our 4 man line a 4-3 alignment. It’s along the lines of the “Exotic” fronts LeBeau has been playing with the last couple years. I’m not a big fan of those either, the results aren’t there.

You defend the pass with either pressure or coverage. You try to do both but one of them must be superior on any given play for the defense to win the down. Marginal pass rush plus marginal coverage equals offensive success. The Steelers have not been able to get the QB on the ground late in games. They certainly can’t cover well enough to stop the offense, haven’t been superior there for many years. Their success has come when they get good pressure and adequate coverage – say 3 seconds before the QB has to run or is sacked. After 3-4 seconds, all offenses have the advantage. Our secondary can not cover well enough to win the down consistently – there is no question about that.

Total sacks vs sacks at the end of the game are two different things. The Steelers rank 2nd in total sacks which is great. However, they rank 19th in Passes Defensed (breaking up the reception or tipping ball away) and 24th with 8 picks (second to last – multiple teams have the same interception total). This illustrates the problem with the pass defense – if they don’t sack the QB they are in big trouble. Plus, how likely will you see a holding call against an offense coming down the field with 2 minutes or less in the game in the NFL??? Deebo is getting tackled half the time and he gets no call – welcome to the NFL in the new millenium.

Pressure is the best answer for the rest of the season – you can’t get better at coverage with second rate DBs starting. A viable 4-3 structure is achievable next year, even if they use the 3-4 as their base. It will give them pressure options next year and into the future. Getting 2 decent D Linemen – say one DT and one DE type through trade and/or draft is possible. You are never going to get great DBs as easily as you can get quality D Line guys who can be added to the mix.