PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers, like most teams, have a 24-hour rule when it comes to games. You can celebrate a win for a day and then it is time to move on to the next game. Monday that moving on was about fixing a number of issues on defense. The group that should be the team’s strength and the highest paid unit in the NFL.
Sunday in New Jersey was yet another horrible performance attempting to stop an opponent’s running game.
“We played like s#@*,” said linebacker Patrick Queen. “That’s as simple as I can say it. I ain’t going to sugarcoat it, we played like (poop). If we keep playing like that we are going to get face smashed in. We played like absolute trash.”
It’s fair. The last time a Steelers defense took the field it was mauled by the Ravens. Baltimore ran at will for 299 yards in a playoff victory and the Steelers discussed it often since then. Their goal was to fix those problems. Still under contract, they released the oft-injured Larry Ogunjobi. Then the Steelers drafted defensive help with three of their first four and four of their six draft picks. They even added a Pro Bowl run-stuffing corner and two new safeties.
Then Sunday, as if an omen for the day, Breece Hall, who while talented has never had a 1,000-yard season in the NFL, busted one for 18 yards. On the second series, the run established, play-action allowed for a 33-yard touchdown pass. At the end of the first half, the Jets were already over 100 yards rushing and it helped Justin Fields pass for 134 yards. They gave up 182 yards rushing in all, meaning 481 rushing yards allowed in two games.
Cam Heyward called what the Steelers watched ‘teach tape’. Corner Darius Slay said there was plenty to correct. TJ Watt said it was unacceptable, just a little cleaner than how Queen put it.
“That's not the standard for our defense,” said linebacker Alex Highsmith. “We got punched in the mouth coming out of the gate, and that's not the standard for us. So, we just got to get in the lab, we got to digest this film, and you know, we got to come out and play more physical from the jump.”
Queen said the frustration for him really is that this is all stuff that was harped on all offseason. It was about paying attention to the details, which often Sunday they didn’t. The team’s middle linebacker said they missed fundamentals, gap assignments. They weren’t physical enough and sometimes they chased plays instead of staying to their responsibilities.
“When you go through training camp, you hope you have everything right, but sometimes the first game comes and it’s not where you want it to be and it wasn’t where we wanted it to be,” said defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk. “We got to clean that up.”
Loudermilk, who started for first-round pick Derrick Harmon who missed due to injury, said on the defensive line, they have to do a better job of getting off blocks and then make sure they stay in their gaps. One person in the wrong place can wreck 10 others doing exactly what they should be.
“We all have roles and assignments,” said linebacker Payton Wilson. “We got to be honest with ourselves, truthful and we got to correct these things.”
In his second year, Wilson admitted he made mistakes, but said so did others. He added there is a lot to clean up, but they are hungry to get it right. Queen’s running mate, Wilson said you could see a drastic jump in performance this week.
“We were getting gashed in the run game, that was very obvious,” said safety Juan Thornhill. “I just feel like that is something we emphasize this week. I’m not really panicked at all. I don’t think no one on our defensive side is panicked one bit.”
“People outside the building might be a little worried because I know we threw some stuff out there early in camp talking about how this defense can be one of the best. It still can. It’s Week One. We just finished the first game.”