There is still a big concern for this team: The Steelers' pass defense is quickly becoming something that might hold this team back from winning the Super Bowl.
The NFL is a passing league. The Steelers haven't faced many good quarterbacks this year, yet they still have looked mediocre defending the pass.
Every week, we hear that the opposing team won't be able to run the ball and that the Steelers don't get the ball run on them. While that is true, I'm not sure opposing teams should even be concerned about running the ball against the Steelers.
In the game against the Ravens, Joe Flacco
The Steelers often play a deep zone coverage with some sort of blitz. The problem is when teams pick up on the blitz. On the first deep ball, the Ravens kept seven guys in to block, having only three receivers running routes. Troy Polamalu, the Steelers' best defensive back, blitzed on the play but he and the rest of the pass-rushers were picked up by the Ravens, resulting in a 61-yard completion to Anquan Boldin.
Luckily for the Steelers, Flacco isn't a truly elite quarterback. He's a good QB, but he is still young and he's not very
Perhaps no team was more prepared than the New England Patriots. When the Pats came to town they had no interest in running the ball. They spread the Steelers out with four and five wide-receiver sets, and went on to throw the ball 43 times for 343 yards.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick own the Steelers and know how to beat them. Of course Brady and the Pats seem to do that to every team, but this defense is supposed to be elite; it's supposed to be the best.
The same thing happened two weeks before that game when the Steelers played
Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the game, but I still think it's the only way to beat the Steelers.
Brees went on to complete 34 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns on the night. In the second half, Brees completed 20 of 22 passes and led the Saints to 17 of their 20 points, which leads me to believe that the Steelers coaching staff must be one of the worst at making halftime adjustments, both offensively and defensively.
The Steelers did a decent job against Brees, but the Saints obviously made some minor adjustments at halftime that allowed Brees to go 20 of 22 throwing the ball.
Looking back all the way to Super Bowl XLIII against Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals, the Steelers did a good job in the first half, holding the Cardinals to seven points. But in the second half, Warner threw for over 200 yards, and the Cardinals regained the lead.
Last year, Bruce Gradkowski led not one, but two game-winning drives against the Steelers, who made him and Louis Murphy look like All-Pros.
Last year, everyone gave the defense a pass because Polamalu missed most of the year and the Steelers had replaced cornerback McFadden with William Gay. Now both Polamalu and McFadden are back and starting, but we're still getting the same results.
In all three of the Steelers' losses this year, you can blame their week pass defense.
And, part of the blame goes to LeBeau and Mike Tomlin.
They continue to have their corners play eight and sometimes 10 yards off the ball, allowing teams to complete short passes the entire game. The Steelers play a safe coverage trying to prevent the big play. That's fine, but at the same time, if the opposing team continues to complete four to 6-yard passes, it still adds up the same.
They need to be more aggressive and press the corners with a blitz, the same thing that other defenses try to do them. Playing safe isn't always the best option.
This prevent-style defense could end up costing the Steelers a big playoff, however, especially considering that their opponent will most likely have one of the better quarterbacks in the league.
I just hope the Steelers aren't too arrogant to realize that they have a big problem to fix.
Pittsburgh is going to make the playoffs this year, but what happens if they have to face Brady and the Pats?
Do you feel confident they can stop them?
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