Hot off of a successful 2017 regular season and a failed postseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to improve in every aspect this year and find success in the postseason, too. Any analyst or talking head will say “the Steelers are gonna be good, their offense will be great, but who knows about that defense.” Every person who says that is absolutely right. It was the defense that failed the team in last year’s miserable playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, it’s the Steelers defense that needs to step up through some criticism and adversity and shine.
Pittsburgh Steelers Defense Must Rise Through Adversity
Replacing Ryan Shazier, Or Attempting To
Part of the reason for last year’s defense getting worse as playoffs rolled around was because of the loss of Pro Bowl linebacker Ryan Shazier. His spinal injury is still one of the saddest sports injuries in recent memory, and his recovery to this point has been astounding. But, it’s no secret that he won’t be playing in the foreseeable future, if ever again. His speed, athleticism, and captaining of the defense have all been missed and will continue to be missed. Though the team has taken some steps to attempt to find his replacement, it has been clear through preseason that it will not be an easy task.
In the off-season, the team signed seventh-year linebacker Jonathan Bostic. Just recently, they signed Vince Williams to a four-year contract extension. The team’s efforts are there to improve the position group, but the skill is still lacking. Speed, in particular, is greatly missing from this linebacker group compared to when Shazier was there. Granted, not many linebackers in the league are as fast as Shazier. But many are faster than Williams, Bostic, and Tyler Matakevich. Williams will probably be Shazier’s successor as captain of the defense. He and Bostic both have no issues delivering big hits. The linebackers will be fine in the run game. They will struggle more in the passing game, which isn’t a good sign for a team whose secondary hasn’t been the greatest of units in recent years. The linebackers will have to step up, especially in the absence of Shazier.
Changes to the Secondary
The off-season saw a few changes come to the Steelers secondary, too. Most notably, veteran safety Mike Mitchell is no longer with the team. He was the captain of the secondary last year, which might not be something to brag about considering the number of miscommunications and big pass plays allowed last year. No time was wasted in finding his replacement, though, as they signed former Packers safety Morgan Burnett to a three-year contract. To go with that, the team also drafted safety Terrell Edmunds in the first round. His potential and tools are definitely there, and it just remains to be seen how he will develop. As with the linebackers, it is clear the team made an effort to improve the back end of the defense in the off-season.
Third-year safety Sean Davis will be switching positions to free safety this year, while Burnett will now be the team’s strong safety. Burnett at strong safety is great news, as he is by far the best option on the team to cover opposing tight ends. Maybe, finally, the team won’t be having nightmares when they know Rob Gronkowski is coming to town. Davis moving to free safety, though, could potentially be a big concern, as the last man to stop someone from scoring should probably be a better tackler than what Davis has been thus far in his career. The addition of Burnett should mean that the secondary will improve this season, as long as the communication issues of last year can be resolved.
Crucial Year for Front Five
There was much criticism of the front five going around after last year’s playoff loss to the Jags. All-pro, captain, and the best player on the defense, Cameron Heyward, had just one tackle in that loss. Stephon Tuitt, the $60 million man on the opposite side of the defensive line, had two. The team had no sacks that game; it was like everyone was told to not rush the passer. Bud Dupree is one season away from reaching Jarvis Jones status and absolutely must improve if he wants to continue his career as a Steeler.
Unlike with middle linebackers and secondary, there were no changes made to the defensive line and outside linebacker personnel this off-season. The only change made was that second-year man T.J. Watt and Dupree will be switching sides, with Watt moving to the right outside linebacker position and Dupree moving to the left. With this group, the only improvement that needs to be made is to their consistency. Watt seems to be the popular choice to lead the team in sacks this year. Heyward and Tuitt will continue to be great. It’s just going to come down to each guy doing his job and doing it well on a consistent basis.
Consistency will really be the biggest issue with the Steelers defense as a whole this season. Everyone knows that the offense will be consistently explosive. As long as the defense can consistently hold their own and keep the offense out of a shootout every single week, success won’t be hard to come by for the Steelers this year.
