Stopping the run not trademark of defense right now
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
There was a time when opponents never attempted to run against the Steelers. Now they’re lining up to bludgeon a beleaguered defensive line that’s down a starter and thin on reserve talent.
For the second consecutive week, an opposing running back rushed for 100 yards against the Steelers.
The Patriots, of all teams, decided their best path to victory Sunday was to have Tom Brady turn around and hand off to LeGarrette Blount, who gashed the Steelers for 5.3 yards per carry. He carried 24 times for 127 yards, one week after Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi rushed for 204 yards.
“He’s a big guy, he’s a good runner, but we didn’t get blocks,” inside linebacker Ryan Shazier said. “We didn’t make tackles. Everyone is responsible. We have to hold each other accountable. We have to make sure we can be the defense we can be. Right now, we’re looking like garbage. This is terrible right now.”
Brady, who usually relishes the opportunity to pick apart the Steelers secondary, oversaw a game plan that revolved around Blount. Brady attempted 26 passes and threw for just 222 yards. He made some big passes when he had to, but the Patriots were content to methodically run the ball down the field.
“We’re normally known for stopping the run, but, if teams feel like they can get 100 or 200 yards rushing on us every game, they’re going to continue to run,” Shazier said.
“If we keep playing like this, they’re going to keep doing this. We have to make sure when we come back we’re going to force them to stop running the ball and do whatever we want them to do. Right now, they can do whatever they want to do. and that’s going to hurt us. We’re going to continue to lose if that happens.”
The Steelers have their off week to figure out what ails their rush defense. Some of the problems can be traced to the absence of defensive end Cam Heyward, who missed a second consecutive game with a hamstring injury.
The first five opponents didn’t have nearly as much success running the ball when Heyward was healthy.
But it’s not the answer for every issue that faces the run defense, said defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who seemed to imply there is currently a lack of physicality with the defense.
“It’s all about putting our face in it and stopping the run,” he said. “It’s about want to.”
Blount played for the Steelers in 2014, but they cut him after he walked out on his teammates in a late-season game in Tennessee. The Patriots immediately signed him to their roster, and he earned a Super Bowl ring that season.
Since then, he has been an integral part of New England’s offense. On their first scoring drive Sunday, Blount had gains of 7, 9 and 9 yards. On the second, he had gains of 9, 6 and 4 yards. He capped off the drive with a 3yard touchdown run, waltzing into the end zone nearly untouched.
“When they’re getting 6 or 7 yards a pop, they’re dictating the tempo,” outside linebacker Jarvis Jones said. “As a defense, you want to dictate the tempo. You want to make a team one-dimensional, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
When asked specifically what’s happening with the run defense, Jones, like Tuitt, suggested it’s simply a matter of desire.
“Man, we’re not coming off blocks,” he said. “We have to come off blocks and make plays. I don’t know any other way to say it.
“We hold ourselves to a standard. The last couple of weeks we haven’t been that defense. We have to get it corrected. We have to look at ourselves and see how we can get better.”
Coach Mike Tomlin said the Steelers were willing to give up some ground in the running game to take away the Patriots passing game, but his players weren’t buying it. No matter how the scheme is drawn up, they don’t expect to give up more than 100 yards rushing.
“We want to shut everything down,” Tuitt said.
Right now, that’s not happening, and the blueprint to beating the Steelers won’t change until they get back to their old run-stopping ways.
“Not sure what’s going to happen with Ladarius, but having him back would be great for us,” Foster said. “Ben, Cam, you name it.”
Maybe then they will be able to stop the run again. On a day in which the Steelers introduced 20 of their alumni at halftime, LeGarrette Blount had a homecoming of his own. Their former halfback dropped 127 yards rushing and two touchdowns on them. This came one week after Jay Ajayi beat them up for 204 yards.
But that was in the coaches’ game plan against the Patriots.
“We acknowledge schematically that we were willing to bleed a little bit in the run game in an effort to minimize big plays,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “In doing so, we would have to come off blocks and make tackles — not enough of that for us to be successful.”
Landry Jones played well in place of the injured Roethlisberger. He completed 29 of 47 for 281 yards and one touchdown to Darrius Heyward-Bey. But there was that early interception he threw into the end zone from New England’s 16. It came on their second series, right after Jarvis Jones punctuated perhaps his best game by forcing a fumble and recovering it.
“I thought he did some good things,” Tomlin said. “The red-zone interception was unfortunate, but it wasn’t going to be about