Mike Tomlin made it clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t need to change their defensive schematics much despite putrid results, and they aren’t planning any changes to who is calling the plays. Defensive captain Cam Heyward agrees with that line of thinking.
“Good teams can be simple, get it done, rally to the ball. You can show different coverages, you can move around, you can stem [the front],” Heyward said Thursday via a clip from 93.7 The Fan on X. “But I don’t think it comes down to the Xs and Os. I think it comes down to execution and finishing plays.”
Players will rarely come out and throw their coaches under the bus. But if execution is the only issue, it’s a much harder thing to fix than changing or simplifying schematics. It puts the onus on the players to have better communication and discipline. And it may even speak to a talent deficiency.
Nobody thought talent would be an issue when the Steelers brought in multiple former All-Pros and Super Bowl champions to bolster their defense, but it at least has to be considered. Pittsburgh’s strategy was betting on veterans, many of them being in the final years of their careers. Is it possible that age finally caught up to guys like Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay?
Even more troubling is the fact that DeShon Elliott is out for at least the next four games, and possibly the rest of the season. He was one of the main communicators on a defense that is already experiencing communication issues.
If blame is being placed at the feet of the players, how can they really turn that around? After the first couple weeks of the season, it was easy to write off their failures and take a wait-and-see approach. Now we are halfway through the season, and they are pacing to the worst defense in franchise history. That’s unacceptable for the most expensive defense in the league, made even more pricey after trading for Kyle Dugger.
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