Will next great Steelers defense be unveiled Sunday?
The final piece of the next great Steelers defense should be healthy enough to play Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and that would make it an unveiling.
Mike Mitchell would make complete a group that played without Bud Dupree in the opener, Stephon Tuitt in the second game, Tuitt and T.J. Watt in the third game, and Mitchell in the fourth.
The only below-average game by the defense was the third, but even then, the loss in Chicago, according to Ryan Shazier, 无毛视频渞eally made us figure out the things that we needed to work on. 无毛视频� Sometimes a loss can be more of a lesson than a loss.无毛视频�
In that loss, the Steelers allowed only 17 points in regulation, and 10 of those were set up by special-teams gaffes. But it was the long runs everyone remembers, and when Baltimore hit the Steelers with another couple of long runs the following week, it was obvious that Mitchell无毛视频檚 absence was felt.
Is he going to play this week?
无毛视频淢aybe,无毛视频� he said after a long moment to ponder.
Mitchell has been a full participant in back-to-back practices this week, so the Steelers are on the verge of putting their entire defense 无毛视频� no, make that their entire team (since Marcus Gilbert took a planned day off Thursday) 无毛视频� on the field for the very first time.
Are the expectations for this defense growing?
无毛视频淚 think we can be great, man. I无毛视频檝e been saying that all the time,无毛视频� Mitchell said. 无毛视频淚 want to see us all together.无毛视频�
But can the unit become truly great?
This defense has allowed 59 points, the fewest a Steelers defense has allowed in a first quarter of a season since 2010, their last Super Bowl season. But that defense was in its dying embers.
James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley were still posting double-digit sacks numbers; Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark and Ike Taylor were still roaming the secondary; Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel were still controlling the gaps up front; and James Farrior and Lawrence Timmons were still piling up the tackles inside.
But the average starter on that defense was 29.5 years old. It was a defense that was nearly at the finish line. The Steelers, in fact, drafted the leader of the new unit with the 31st pick a few months after that Super Bowl, and the rest of this defense was rebuilt along with Cameron Heyward.
It无毛视频檚 now posting outstanding statistics and girding a team trying to find its offensive rhythm through a 3-1 start.
And the average starter on this defense is 25.2 years old.
The average year of experience per starter is 4.3.
The average draft round per starter is 1.9.
This is a young and highly pedigreed group that has yet to play even one full game together and yet is ranked second in the NFL in both yardage and scoring.
Truly great defenses percolate in a similar manner. Take the historic 1985 Chicago Bears, with a defense that broke out with the following averages: 26.2 years old, 4.6 years of experience and an average draft round of 3.5 per starter.
Whether such a comparison to any great defense is valid will depend 无毛视频� as coordinator Keith Butler said 无毛视频� 无毛视频渋f we win the Super Bowl. All the other stuff doesn无毛视频檛 really matter.无毛视频�
But with all of this raw talent coming of age, shouldn无毛视频檛 there be a sense of excitement, particularly for this week when they无毛视频檒l all play together for the first time?
无毛视频淵ou know,无毛视频� said Mitchell, 无毛视频渟omething that we无毛视频檝e talked about, kind of in inside conversations, is that we无毛视频檙e very much aware of the amount of first and second-round picks that we have on our defense. It无毛视频檚 just a matter of us getting out there and doing it. Obviously we无毛视频檙e excited about it. Hopefully this week we can get everybody out there and we can really see it. Right now it无毛视频檚 just talk.无毛视频�
Mitchell went on.
无毛视频淚 think we无毛视频檝e been good,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淲e went on a nice, little run last year. We无毛视频檝e been good in spurts. I still got a super bad taste in my mouth from that Chicago game. None of us played up to our standard and it showed. I think we had a little bit of a bounce back last week, but how do you not get motivated for Baltimore? This will be a big test for us for real. They无毛视频檝e got a more than formidable running game and a good team coming in here looking to do the job. We无毛视频檝e got to turn 无毛视频檈m back.无毛视频�
The Jacksonville Jaguars come to town with an explosive running game led by a highly pedigreed young superstar of their own in Leonard Fournette. He无毛视频檚 the leading rusher on the NFL无毛视频檚 No. 2-ranked rushing offense, and this young Steelers defense has been spotty defending that part of the game.
无毛视频淲e haven无毛视频檛 done a great job of that,无毛视频� Butler said of a unit that allowed 222 yards rushing to Chicago and bolts of 23 and 50 yards last week against Baltimore.
Of course, the Steelers did lower their missed-tackles count from 16 to 5 over the past two games, and those long runs in Baltimore were fueled by the missed tackles of Mitchell无毛视频檚 replacement.
Butler saw other mistakes.
无毛视频淭hey got cut,无毛视频� Butler said of five Steelers who were in a pile at the line of scrimmage for the 50-yarder. 无毛视频淥ne went down and it无毛视频檚 a domino effect and everybody went down and they popped the long one. As for the other run they had, we ran under a block and I think a lot of times when you无毛视频檝e got some guys who hadn无毛视频檛 played in a while, they kind of take chances or figure they can do something better.
无毛视频淗ey, I did the same thing when I played. I tried to run under blocks every now and then to make plays. But I knew this: If I ran under a block, I better make the play. And we didn无毛视频檛. So they got some yards and I think it was a valuable lesson learned.无毛视频�
In the other 13 carries in the game, the Ravens gained a total of nine yards.
Yep, it无毛视频檚 THAT kind of defense that I无毛视频檓 talking about here.
无毛视频淥h for sure,无毛视频� said cornerback Joe Haden with an admiring shake of his head. 无毛视频淓veryone无毛视频檚 talking about the offense, and we 无毛视频� it无毛视频檚 just totally different here. I无毛视频檓 happy as can be.无毛视频�
Haden was the last piece acquired by the Steelers. The cornerback was signed after Cleveland released the 28-year-old former first-rounder. He came to Pittsburgh thinking the same thing everyone else was thinking: The Steelers have the kind of firepower on offense that can carry a team to the Super Bowl. But Haden discovered a pretty talented group of young defensive players about to blossom.
Of course, Haden spent seven seasons with a team that averaged four wins per season, so he无毛视频檚 bound to be a bit, well 无毛视频�
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 just excited about the potential,无毛视频� Haden said. 无毛视频淓verybody in our room is hungry for it. They haven无毛视频檛 been talked about as a defensive team yet. But I feel like you do, that we无毛视频檝e got a good group of ballers. Same as the offensive side. So I feel we have this opportunity on both sides.
无毛视频淓ven if we haven无毛视频檛 been able to get to where we want to be on offense, if our defense could just take the approach that we无毛视频檙e going to be a defensive team, just in our minds, just feel like 无毛视频極K we无毛视频檙e going to take control,无毛视频� and as soon as these (offensive) boys get on track, or whatever you want to call that, it无毛视频檚 going to be serious.无毛视频�
It无毛视频檚 going to be serious. That无毛视频檚 the kind of talk I无毛视频檝e been expecting.
But along came Butler to throw a damp blanket over any kind of excitement.
无毛视频淲e have a lot of good offenses we haven无毛视频檛 played yet, a lot of them,无毛视频� the coordinator cautioned. 无毛视频淏ut if we can keep on getting better, learn to play with each other, learn to communicate with each other, we ought to be all right.无毛视频�
Steelers fans will have to take that.
For now.