Play Dick Lebeau for a second

by Chicago Steeler on May 21, 2009 5:39 PM EDT Comment 18 comments

Blasphemy, I know... But Lebeau's got some fun toys at his disposal.

We've got some crazy knowledgable folks here at BTSC and I'm curious what defensive schemes people would use with the Steelers personnel. In another post steelguy99 was refering to running some 2-5-4 with Fox or B. Davis. How would it look and what advantages would it give us?

Let's be creative in where we put people, where we hide blitzes and where the coverage lies. The genius of Dick Lebeau and other good DCs is that they don't just think of fun ways to get to the QB, they think of ways to confuse the QB so that even if they see the blitz coming they can't use their normal dump off/outlet. (see James Harrison's 100 yd INT)

Feel free to say what situation you'd use your custom play (ie 3rd and long against Peyton Manning, 1st defensive snap of the game versus the uni-brow, etc). And don't limit yourself if an offensive or special teams player could make a difference put them in. (I'm looking in your direction Mitch Berger)

I'm also all for historical players being brought in. What kind of formation could you run if you had Mean Joe Greene next to Hampton? Could you make an 11 linebacker defense from all the Steeler greats? (that could be a scary group)

Just another way to kill time till there's real football news again. Have a great Memorial Day all.

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11 LB Curtain

NT Kirkland
RT Woodley
LT K Greene
LOLB LLoyd
LILB Ham
RILB Farrior
ROLB Deebo
LCB Timmons
RCB Porter
FS Lambert
SS Russell

by SuperSix on May 21, 2009 5:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I mentioned this last week or something like that, but I could see Woodley and Harrison lining up on Woodley’s side, Farrior covering the middle of the field, and Timmons sprinting to cover Harrison’s hole with Troy stepping into the middle.

I haven’t thought too much about the ramifications, but it seemed last year that LeBeau was reticent to line up Woodley / Harrison on the same side. For good reason as it leaves the hole and also tips the hand of where the rush is coming from. Still, I could see LeBeau working on some interesting twists with our LBs, especially with Woodley/Harrison stacking a side. I like Woodley on the inside if he is the rusher, and James on the outside. Alternately, depending on whether they rush or drop they could be switched.

Woodley/Harrison line up on Woodley’s side, Farrior moves over to cover the hole, Timmons covers the middle.

Woodley/Harrison line up on Woodley’s side, Farrior covers Harrison’s spot, Timmons blitzes, Woodley covers Timmons spot, Harrison drops to Woodley’s normal dropped spot.

Woodley/Harrison again, Brett drops to Harrison’s spot, Timmons & Woodley rush, Harrison drops.

As much as I’m not sold on him yet, Timmons athletic ability adds a pretty sick dimension to our defense if he’s in the base. Putting Woodley and Harrison on the same side, the few times it was done, seemed to put offenses into dismay causing several penalties I believe. Combine that with an effective gameplan that make it more than a gimmick and we could see some crazy stuff this year.

Or I’m just delusional.

Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.

by steelguy99 on May 21, 2009 6:05 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Woodley and Harrison lined up on the same side a lot

I saw that a couple of times. More than once it resulted in the RT false starting, nervous about the prospect of blocking both those beasts

by syrsteelerfan on May 21, 2009 8:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am pretty sure they didn’t do that more than 10 times in the season, and I don’t count that as a lot.

Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.

by steelguy99 on May 22, 2009 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting post

I have about fifty essays on the pros and cons of capitalism to grade but this post is too interesting to pass up. Those essays aren’t going anywhere. Let’s get to this instead.

First, let me say that anything I come up with will pale in comparison to what the master, Mr. LeBeau, can devise. He’s Picasso with a head-set for sure. But, given Chicago’s challenge, I offer this: with our current group, let’s run a 3-3 Stack with Hampton on the nose and Farrior stacked behind him at Mike backer and Smith and Kiesel at ends with Woodley (Sam) and Harrison (Will) stacked behind them. Then, you use Polamalu and Timmons as outside backers and play a 3-deep with Ike, Ryan Clark and William Gay. The blitz combos of that eight-man front are almost limitless, as the Stack look inside allows for a variety of twists and red dogs and it’s easy to walk the outside backers up and bring them while dropping the Sam or the Will to the flat. The five-backer look with Farrior, Harrison, Woodley, Timmons and Polamalu all in or at the edge of the box seems like a nightmare to cope with, especially since the outside guys (Polamalu and Timmons) are fast enough to work the sideline in pass coverage. I can see Peyton Manning at the line now, gesturing spastically as the backers jump around, creep to the line, back off, etc… He might have a seizure trying to find the perfect play each time.

To this point the 3-3 is largely a college defense and I have no idea how successful it would be on the pro level. But with the Steelers personnel it would sure be fun to have a look at…

by cliff harris is still a punk! on May 21, 2009 6:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Simple 5-man blitz.

three D-lineman rush and Timmons stunts inside with Hampton, Troy follows Timmons.

With the other LB’s covering short Timmons’ main goal is to get the help blocker out of the way for Troy to come right at the QB. I love Troy up the middle blitzes, and with Timmons bulldozing in front of him I think it could rival some of the Raven’s follow blitzes. I call a follow blitz when two guys hit a gap, it may have an actual name.

Sure he can score goals, but can he cook?

by Phantaskippy on May 21, 2009 6:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know that I would count on Timmons to remove the blocker. He tended to get stoned when faced with someone picking up the blitz.

Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.

by steelguy99 on May 21, 2009 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Or

If harrison actually stuffs the blocker, Troy blows by the qb cuz hes going too fast. 4.3 is great but hes gotta break down on the blitz more often.

by Micculus on May 21, 2009 6:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Line up in the 4-3

Woodley, Smith, Hampton, Davis
Harrison Farrior Timmons

Have Smith Davis, and Farrior in Coverage, with Woodley, Harrison, Hampton, and Timmons rushing the QB.

And depending on what the zones look like and the offenses’ formation, possibly have Troy come in as well.

by Romain El 82 on May 21, 2009 9:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think the better question to ask is....

what should Bruce Arians do with offense?
I have total trust in the Great Mr. LeBeau – and will actually think about the actual question here and get back to you…but seriously, can we do more than run-run-pass and now we’re 3rd and long? If I can freaking guess what the offense is gonna do, so can other teams defense. Only time it wasn’t easy to pick up is when Ben’s on the move and that’s because the play they were going to do fell apart….

Anyway, just sayin’….

back to regularly scheduled programming

Steelergurl

by Steelergurl on May 22, 2009 10:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But Arians (and our O-line) have blatant holes in their game. The suggestions for arians come out of a “How to coach football for dummies” book.

The bunch formation takes too much time with our O-line.
Our O-line gets no push, stop trying to run between the tackles.
Simple screens are not the devil (hopefully the playoff trend continues, rather than reg. season).

Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.

by steelguy99 on May 22, 2009 10:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Classic

“How to coach football for dummies” lmao.
I agree – playoffs vs. reg season.
SOMETHING needs to happen…tho they won the top prize, it damn sure wasn’t pretty.
Good thing Ben’s strength (and weakness) is that out of pocket hustle.

Steelergurl

by Steelergurl on May 22, 2009 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Much like dealing with a terrorist state, Arians has to make some concessions before I’ll even enter into talks with him. To my knowledge Arians is not currently enriching uranium, but I he’ll have to meet at least one condition before we can get anywhere: Either sign/draft athletic pass blockers to run your zone blocking running game or run a man blocking, power running game that matches the blockers you have.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on May 22, 2009 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha

I think I’m in love.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on May 22, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Defensive Suggestion

We will have possibly one of the best LB corps in NFL history this year, and I don’t see why they should come off the field in nickel packages. Hampton is pretty useless in passing situations and against teams like the Colts and Pats, so run a 2 man DL, rotating in Smith, Keisel, Hood, and Hoke. Blitz both Harrison and Woodley on a large percentage of plays. Have Troy play the slot and bring in another safety of CB (please not Carter) to line up deep opposite Clark. This is basically a 4-2-5 nickel or an ultra-small 4-3-4 defense, only we still have more options with blitz packages. We could still mix up coverages, having Ike or Troy take a deep zone some of the time and a safety stepping up.

It wouldn’t be effective against the run, but against teams that aren’t going to beat us by running the ball (Colts and Pats), I don’t think it’d be a liability. I also think having both Timmons and Troy close to the line would help contest the RB dumpoffs and draws that we had touble with at times last year. It’s a passing league now, so if we want to win another championship, we’re going to have to beat the Pats and/or Colts, and we need to game plan for that type of attack.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on May 22, 2009 1:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bring back Mel Blount, have him teach Troy and Clark how to kill WR’s at the line.

Then have Mr. Rooney tell the league to change back to the old rules and we would never have problems against passing teams again.

Other than that we should randomly use the Punt Block defense and hit the QB as he receives the snap. Just make sure we have an audible ready if they go shotgun.

Wait, I think I’ve been playing my old football games too much again.

Sure he can score goals, but can he cook?

by Phantaskippy on May 23, 2009 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Defense is fun but it's the Offense!

Arians still makes us all worry. Ben had to use up a lot of his Q4 rabbits last year. We have to have more balance next year. Our effectiveness at running the ball has to improve. The Steelers have to be able to impose their will at times. Thinking about last year, Mewelde really saved us. Contributions from Mendenhall, Sweed and Hills need to fill some gaps. Let’s hope that between Arians & Ben we can attack without being so obvious. It would be nice to see a few more screens, draws & roll outs mixed in with the straight ahead stuff. The main question is are we limited by our O-line or by our OC’s imagination/comfort zone?

by 21Clemente on May 25, 2009 7:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks all

For the comments on this one. I agree with those saying that the side of the ball that needs the most work on play calling is the offense. I was thinking of having a follow up post to that effect. But I think that the pure talent level on the defense is incredible which gives them more flexibility to run fun schemes. Our offense struggles executing straight forward schemes.

by Chicago Steeler on May 26, 2009 11:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs