Steelers defense vows to fix third-down woes
Total defense, rushing, passing, turnovers, yards per play, sacks, pressures, completion percentage, negative-yardage plays. You name it, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense ranks in the top 10 in the NFL. And in many of those, at No. 1 or among the best five.
But there is one recognizable defensive statistic for which the Steelers look up at much of the league.
“Third downs,” linebacker Vince Williams said Friday, “is absolutely something that we could work on.”
Opponents are converting 50% of third-down tries against the Steelers (28 of 56). Only four teams in the NFL are worse.
The Steelers’ troubles on the “possession downs” were magnified during this past week’s game. The Philadelphia Eagles had a streak of 10 consecutive third-down conversions against the Steelers, who got off the field for only the first two and last two such attempts.
Miles Sanders burst for a 74-yard touchdown. From there, the #Steelers couldn’t stop the Eagles. Philadelphia converted 10 consecutive third downs and did not punt the remainder of the game. https://t.co/E9y3yqUqUK
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) October 12, 2020
“We just didn’t do a good job of controlling the circumstances, and, really, to be quite honest with you, some of the circumstances were advantageous to us, meaning third-and-long,” coach Mike Tomlin said this week.
The Eagles went three-and-out on their first two drives, and they appeared well on their way to a third when they elected for a running play on third-and-9 late in the first quarter. Woodland Hills grad Miles Sanders, though, started a game-long trend when he ran for a 74-yard touchdown.
It was a score made possible by a missed tackle, an element noted by Tomlin in explaining troubles on third down might not differ all that greatly from any other game situation. They just can be under the spotlight more.
“There might not be any adjustment moving forward other than the acknowledgement of how miserable it is,” Tomlin said of third-down defense. “That (Sanders) play changed the trajectory of the day for them and for us, particularly, as it pertained to those possession downs.”
The Steelers’ next stop on a third down came at an opportune time: during a two-point game with 3 minutes, 23 seconds to play and the Eagles with a third-and-5 inside the Steelers 40.
That stop made possible by execution: Joe Haden had tight coverage on the day’s Philadelphia receiving star, Travis Fulgham, on a quick slant at the sticks. Like the missed tackle on the Sanders run showed, success or failure on third down often can come down to simply making the play.
But schematics also can play a role, said defensive coordinator Keith Butler.
“We have to do a better job of coaching,” he said. “If we do a little better of a job of coaching in terms of a disguise and stuff like that, I think it would help our guys out a little bit. It’s just not one person, one group or anything like that.”
The Steelers, interestingly, tend to take a more passive approach on third downs. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the Steelers lead the NFL in overall blitz percentage (48.8%), but they blitz on only 27% of their third downs, a rate that ranks 22nd in the league.
“Some of it is to change up,” Butler said, “some of it is … you’d rather have four men rush on certain things. You have to be aware of your quarterback’s (scrambling) capabilities, also.”
But while Butler seemed willing to fall on the sword in accounting for the poor third-down rate, Williams wasn’t going to let the blame fall at coaching.
“No matter what call is called, we have to work together and make that work because when they give us that call, they have confidence in it,” Williams said. “And we have to be able to uplift that confidence by performing it. “
The Steelers’ third-down troubles have come in essentially all situations: Opponents are 4 for 4 on third-and-1 and 11 for 15 on third downs of between 6 and 9 yards to go. They’re also 8 for 10 on third-and 3 or 4 to go.
“(Third downs) is something we have been working on big-time,” Haden said. “We have been watching tape on that all week. … Everything that we saw on tape, getting beat on those third downs, was something that was an easy fix.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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