Reversal of fortunes
Steelers defense has slipped while Patriots unit has improved
Take a glance at NFL statistics, and you might get the idea the Steelers are wellpositioned for the game Sunday against the New England Patriots, a contest that likely will decide the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Statistically speaking, the Steelers are one of the top defenses in the league, a top-10 defense in points allowed, total defense, rushing defense and pass defense. In fact, their pass defense is ranked the highest, with a No. 4 overall ranking.
The Patriots will stroll into Heinz Field with one of the lowest-ranked defenses in the NFL in terms of yards allowed. They are currently 26th against the pass and give up 54 more passing yards per game than the Steelers do entering New England’s “Monday Night Football” game against the Miami Dolphins.
Sorry, Steelers fans, but it’s a mirage. This is a prime example of how statistics can be misleading.
The Patriots’ ranking is due mostly to their poor start, not the way they have played lately. Entering Monday, the Patriots allowed 189.5 passing yards per game and a total of three passing touchdowns in their previous four games.
Conversely, the Steelers defense started strong but is fading fast. They are allowing an average of 263.5 passing yards over their past four games and have surrendered seven touchdown passes.
“We have to get stops,” defensive end Cam Heyward said after the Baltimore Ravens put up 38 points and 413 total yards Sunday night against the Steelers. “We have to get off the field. A lot of it is self-inflicted, whether it was penalties or missed tackles or absurd things we’re doing.”
“Absurd things” seems like an accurate way to describe some of occurrences Sunday in the Steelers secondary. There were blown coverage assignments, missedtackles, bad penalties and a general lack of awareness in how the Ravens were attacking them.
“We put ourselves in some pretty bad situations,” inside linebacker Vince Williams said. “They gave us some concepts we knew we’d have to stop, and we weren’t able to stop them.”
What has to concern the Steelers is two players they were counting on to be settling forces in the defensive backfield performed poorly Sunday. Cornerback Artie Burns and strong safety Sean Davis, the first- and second-round picks in the 2016 draft, made glaring mistakes that aided the Ravens.
Davis had two personal foul penalties and at least two blown coverage assignments. His tackling, or lack thereof, turned some run-ofthe-mill plays into big gains.
Burns committed two pass-interference penalties. On the first one, which resulted in a first-and-goal for the Ravens, he was playing press man coverage on Mike Wallace and failed to disrupt Wallace off the line of scrimmage. Wallace ran past Burns and forced him to interfere before the ball arrived.
One of the Steelers’ main initiatives over the offseason was adding more man coverage schemes, specifically for Tom Brady and the Patriots, who have shredded the zone scheme the Steelers have thrown at him in the past. But if your top cornerback isn’t effective playing in press man, then how effective can it be?
Of course, it wasn’t all on Davis and Burns. The front seven failed to control the Ravens running game and allowed 152 yards on the ground. That kept the defense guessing and put more pressure on the secondary.
There might be a glimmer of hope for the Steelers this week. Cornerback Joe Haden, who has missed the past four games with a fractured fibula, is going to be evaluated early in the week and could return to practice in some form.
That would be a tremendous help because the Steelers were much better when he was in the lineup. But, if Haden cannot play against the Patriots, the Steelers have to get better performances from Burns and Davis.
If they don’t, Brady and Co. could do even more damage than the Ravens did.
No place like home
The Steelers wrapped up the AFC North Division against the Ravens. Now they could wrap up the No. 1 seed in the AFC and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs Sunday against the Patriots.
The Steelers have to beat New England and either have the Patriots lose Monday night to the Dolphins, or the Jaguars lose or tie against the Texans.
The victory against the Ravens matched the earliest the Steelers have clinched a playoff berth, according to NFL historian Ivan Urena. It was the seventh time the Steelers clinched a playoff berth with three weeks remaining. They also did that in 1978, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2001 and 2004.