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The focus of this week is so anchored in the minds of Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive backers, T.J. Watt would not allow a reporter to finish asking the question.
"How does the Steelers' defense manage to be what it wants and must …"
"Stop this damn race!" Interrupted Watt. "It's number 1 – stop the race."
It became apparent during a locker room open Tuesday – two days after losing their third straight game, that the defense believes that stopping the race is the best way to get the Steelers out of action. their funk.
"We have to stop the race," said Terrell Edmunds. "It's a big accent right now."
For previous versions of the Steelers' defense, the stopping of the race was not only stressed, it was their identity. For much of the decade, opponents would not have the trouble to quickly attack their game plan. If they did, he was often abandoned after a few unsuccessful attempts.
The Steelers finished in the top three of the NFL in defense against the race 11 times between 2001 and 2012.
They are 28th in the league at 139.3 yards per game this season after the San Francisco 49ers hit them for 168 yards in a 24-20 victory on Sunday.
"We have to set the tone. "We have to get out of the blocks," said defensive captain Cameron Heyward, "but you have to be in your space, and all too often we have tried to play the" hero's ball "and have done too much. is doing well, we have stops, and when we do not, we are an average football team. "
The Steelers, by their balance sheet, are worse than the average. And their defense against the race is worse than average.
But in the modern NFL, proliferating through faults and protected quarters, does that count so much?
The Steelers insist that a strong defense against racing always means something.
"You have to make one-dimensional teams," Heyward said. "And if (the opponents) have to go through everything because they can not run, we have an advantage."
Edmunds said, "Stop the race, you can say that quarterbacks can try to make crazy passes. And that's where tips and reversals happen. And that's where the big games (for the defense) come. "
The Steelers are not necessarily victims of the big game that rushes. This is more of a slow bleeding. The opponents only managed two scans of more than 19 yards against the Steelers (both by the Seattle Seahawks in the second week). In addition, Pro Football Focus gives a more rosy picture. He ranks the No. 7 Steelers in defense against the race.
But the Steelers' problems, in part, were larger. Although they rank 13th in the number of yards allowed per race (4.1), only two teams allowed more rushing attempts (102).
Opponents rush to 48.11% of games, the fourth highest rate in the NFL. It's partly a late feature so often through three games.
The Steelers believe stiffening against the race will allow them to lead the main matches more often.
"We still think we have a lot of good players on our defense," said defenseman Stephon Tuitt. "So, for us, we must not just stop the race, but be dominant."
Chris Adamski is an editor of Tribune-Review. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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