The Steelers’ defensive weaknesses are easily defined.
That “historic” defense can’t do anything.
The NFL’s highest-paid defense can’t tackle or cover. Can’t stop the run or pass.
All of its big names are past their primes and fading.
The Steelers don’t know how to fix that defense. Don’t know what to do.
Everyone involved should be embarrassed.
The numbers don’t lie:
The defense ranks 30th in yards allowed per game at a whopping 386.
It ranks 22nd in scoring at 25 points per game.
The splash stats prop up the defense slightly: The Steelers have 22 sacks and 10 takeaways. Both numbers rank eighth in the NFL.
But in games when those dry up, the Steelers are toast.
Like Sunday night vs. visiting Green Bay, when the defense posted a big fat goose egg in both sacks and takeaways and got ripped apart for a colossal 454 yards.
The biggest scapegoats are easily identified.
That defense is crippled by a bunch of high-priced old men who no longer post performances to justify their salaries.
Cam Heyward, 36, is meh. The latest installment of his annual hold-in seems ludicrous now.
Jalen Ramsey, 31, is being asked to do too much. He used to be elite in man coverage. Now he’s just a slot corner.
Darius Slay, 34, is washed up. No positive disclaimers. You can flip him over. He’s done on this side.
But the biggest scapegoat is T.J. Watt, 31.
Watt’s massive ego absolutely had to be satiated by making him the NFL’s highest-paid edge rusher at $41 million per year, $1 million more than Myles Garrett. (That figure quickly got eclipsed by Green Bay’s Micah Parsons at $46.5 million per.)
But you could see Watt didn’t merit. You could see him going dim.
Watt had no sacks in 10 of 18 games last season.
He has no sacks in three of seven games this season, a mere half-sack in two other games.
His four sacks rank 21st in the NFL, second on the team behind backup Nick Herbig at 4½. (Garrett has a league-best 10 sacks. Parsons has 6½.)
Watt no longer creates constant pressure and chaos, is easily minimized by double-teams and chips, and has been a big factor in just two of seven games.
Watt shouldn’t have been extended. He’s being paid for what he did, not what he can still do.
He should have been told to play out the final year of his existing deal, then franchised (or not) after that.
This space mentioned that frequently before Watt’s extension, and is being proven correct.
Watt is exemplary of the Steelers’ ineptitude on defense and also their bad decision-making.
Signing Slay was a mistake.
Trading Minkah Fitzpatrick for Ramsey and Jonnu Smith was a mistake. Fitzpatrick hadn’t excelled for two seasons, but his absence has left the Steelers crippled at safety, even more so now that DeShon Elliott is hurt. (Elliott is solid, but can’t be your best safety.)
Giving Pat Freiermuth and Alex Highsmith long-term, big-money deals was a mistake. They’re too replaceable. Neither is currently justifying his ticket.
It’s a flawed franchise from owner to ball boy.
Nothing will change until Mike Tomlin is replaced.
Tomlin might be the most overrated coach in sports history, and he’s proving it. So much that’s wrong can be traced directly to him.
Tomlin administers the defense.
Tomlin has final say on personnel.
Tomlin never thinks big picture.
Tomlin has mangled the quarterback position since Ben Roethlisberger retired. (At 41, Aaron Rodgers’ guile makes him somewhat foolproof. But he’s nonetheless been made into a game manager and the Steelers were 1 for 10 on third down against Green Bay.)
The approach is prehistoric and boring because of Tomlin. Field goal after field goal. Settle for three. Ignite rock fights.
Things are stale because of Tomlin.
I’m not sure that new Penguins boss Dan Muse is a better coach than Mike Sullivan.
But the Penguins aren’t stale anymore.
I’m not sure the Steelers would replace Tomlin with a better coach, though the odds of that are better than his stooges think.
But the Steelers are desperately stale.
They made a plethora of personnel changes before this season, yet feel like the same team headed in the same direction.
But the Steelers still might win the AFC North. Going 9-8 could do the trick.
“Renegade” shouldn’t be the Steelers’ theme song anymore. They’re too old and tired to be renegades.
But you can stick with Styx.
How about “Fooling Yourself”?
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