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The state of our secondary.

I'll say what I usually say. Keep it in front of you and make some well timed ball hawks. Turnovers will win almost every game with this offense.
 
Give em time to gel......gonna get better over the duration of the season
 
Steelers secondary will be defined by the pressure up front that creates disruption for opposing QB's. Hopefully the Steelers lay up 14-17 points per game on opponents forcing the ball into the air. I don't think the secondary matches up well against speed and height. They still give up the middle of the field and play off receivers in 3rd & long situations.
I dunno looks like a repeat of last year with a few new faces. Maybe the Steelers have a great sack attack this year?
 
I think we all are wanting to see some improvement from the end of last year with the secondary and as of yet no one has shined. Having a rush from where when outside LB we have two that we keep hearing this will be their year yet very little play so far. We play to soft especially on third and long and we still give up the plays. Tackling, IF we tackled , would help get off the field and give us better field position. It is a worry preseason or not, we have no light at end of tunnel in secondary.
 
Spike said:
We have Gay and not much else but scrubs...that's how I see it at CB....who knows if anyone at S can cover anybody

All big ??? if you ask me

The offense better concentrate on putting up that 30 points per game that Ben was talking about.


No problem!, with Bell back healthy - him and AB and 5 WIDE! will shred defenses!
 
coach youre way off..
I follow this genius at another site called Joel. He is spot on. I copied this from another steeler site.

"Cornerbacks:

Gay - He's the best we have, and a player that would be difficult to replace if injured as he's more than competent on the outside or slot

Cockrell - A smart playmaker type who lacks some speed. More of a sub package player than a starter.

Grant - A bit of a surprise, Grant looks faster and more confident in his second season. His tackling and playmaking ability were on display in the first two pre-season games. I think he's a little small for the outside but could help out a bit in the sub packages. Apparently, the coaches do not think he's suited for the slot corner role.

Burns - His camp and pre-season were ruined by injuries. When he practiced it was clear he wasn't ready. Because he's a rookie, Burns might not see the field unless an injury promotes him for a while.

Golson - Injured again, he's a complete question mark. It's unclear if he can play at all and alarming for a young player to have the what amounts to 1 1/2 seasons worth of injuries in his second year as a pro.

TBA. I'm not sure who our 5th corner is. He could be playing for another team. It might come down to special teams, though due to being Bruns being very green and Golson hurt, maybe it doesn't. Shabazz stood out in the Eagles game.


Conclusion: This unit lacks size, and speed among the top 3 and experience among the reserves. I think this is our worst cornerback unit in the past 15 seasons.

The pass rush must deliver, and I highly suspect coach Butler will have the men playing off in a zone type alignment more often than not, allowing too many easy completions to help prevent big plays.


Safties:

Mitchell - Looks solid in all phases of the game. If he matures just a bit and doesn;t get flagged he can rate among the best 10 safeties in football

Golden - I think he's our best pure coverage safety. Could be an under appreciated and undervalued player for us. Golden needs to stay healthy be as there is not depth behind him.

Davis - I wasn't a fan of the Davis pick. Had it been in round four okay, but I felt his coverage ability and tackling were red flags in college He has missed tackles in the pre-season and made just 1 vs. the Eagles. I do not think he's suited for the slot and feel deploying him as a rookie could be a little dangerous.

Thomas - Whether he has it above the neck this season is debatable. I did see some improvement, but I also saw him looking too unaware. A good man for special teams.

TBA - Usually this spot goes to special teams, and one of our best in
Ross Ventrone is hurt. Dangerfield is an option, but Tomlin hasn't shown him much respect in the past There a good chance this spot goes to a waiver wire player.


Conclusion: Our starters appear to be very solid, but the depth is a major issue. Pick your poison between the rookie who's missing tackles in Davis, an assignment challenged Thomas or TBA.



The glass is half full: With two rookies and Golson coming back, this unit will be better as the season progresses. The Steelers do have a lot of youth among the DB's

The glass is half empty. I see lots of holes in our dime defense, and if a front line starter goes down, the next man up will be exposed. Last year this unit rated 30th in the NFL, and faced 7 back up QB's. I tend to doubt we'll be facing as many back up QB's this year. "
 
How am off? Watching the game now. looks like Davis was beaten for a touchdown.
 
How am off? Watching the game now. looks like Davis was beaten for a touchdown.

You are the worst lol..are you really going to toot your horn over that play..it was a great catch. 9 times out of ten that is incomplete. Great coverage big hit miracle catch..
 
You are the worst lol..are you really going to toot your horn over that play..it was a great catch. 9 times out of ten that is incomplete. Great coverage big hit miracle catch..

. Davis was beaten clean. That was my point. Like I said I'm not comfortable with him in coverage for now and think his tackling is too hit or miss. With Thomas hurt, Davis is going to play a lot.
 
Golson - Injured again, he's a complete question mark. It's unclear if he can play at all and alarming for a young player to have the what amounts to 1 1/2 seasons worth of injuries in his second year as a pro.

I don't know about that statement Coach. From what I understood, he was our starting slot corner before he got hurt again. Admittedly it was football in shorts but nevertheless, someone musta liked what they were seein'.
 
. Davis was beaten clean. That was my point. Like I said I'm not comfortable with him in coverage for now and think his tackling is too hit or miss. With Thomas hurt, Davis is going to play a lot.

Beaten clean coach?? See this is why I **** with you. He had tight coverage and had a hand just about on the ball.
 
Beaten clean coach?? See this is why I **** with you. He had tight coverage and had a hand just about on the ball.

lol he was beaten by 2 yards as the saints player crossed the goal line. I looked like he tried to hold before that. You really like making excuses.

**** with me? It's not hard to make you like like a clown.
 
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lol he was beaten by 2 yards as the saints player crossed the goal line. I looked like he tried to hold before that. You really like making excuses.

**** with me? It's not hard to make you like like a clown.

Your a dweeb..know why? Because you accurately described the play to a point..because the rest wouldn't help your argument. While initially the WR had separation Davis made that up and got his hand on the ball it took a miracle catch and some luck that the ball right to him after the big hit.. that's why you're a dweeb. because you want to be to be right so bad you leave out anything that doesn't support your dumb point..Even when you know someone can easily find the missing info..it's right there on video and you still can't say good coverage... greater catch it happens.
 
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Davis broke up the pass. The fact that the receiver had the ball land on him while he was on his back in the EZ was a great play by the receiver.
 
I have to agree with Coach. If that play was not in the EZ the receiver would have blown by Davis. Now the receiver did make a great catch, but if there was more field and the receiver was led properly that would have been a huge play (think Fitzgerald in the SB). I thought Davis was supposed to play safety, but they keep playing him at CB which is his weakness.
 
I have to agree with Coach. If that play was not in the EZ the receiver would have blown by Davis. Now the receiver did make a great catch, but if there was more field and the receiver was led properly that would have been a huge play (think Fitzgerald in the SB). I thought Davis was supposed to play safety, but they keep playing him at CB which is his weakness.

With out knowing what technique the coverage called for its hard to fault Davis on the play. If he is in trail technique he is right where he is supposed to be. Also you have to factor in the make up speed to contest the ball in the air.
 
I have to agree with Coach. If that play was not in the EZ the receiver would have blown by Davis. Now the receiver did make a great catch, but if there was more field and the receiver was led properly that would have been a huge play (think Fitzgerald in the SB). I thought Davis was supposed to play safety, but they keep playing him at CB which is his weakness.

Exactly right.
 
With out knowing what technique the coverage called for its hard to fault Davis on the play. If he is in trail technique he is right where he is supposed to be. Also you have to factor in the make up speed to contest the ball in the air.

This is the problem. You don't know jack. . Davis had him in coverage and he was beaten. Like I said he knew he was beaten and trying to hold.

If letting a player blow by you and trying to hold him is part of a planned coverage I never heard of it.
 
I have to agree with Coach. If that play was not in the EZ the receiver would have blown by Davis. Now the receiver did make a great catch, but if there was more field and the receiver was led properly that would have been a huge play (think Fitzgerald in the SB). I thought Davis was supposed to play safety, but they keep playing him at CB which is his weakness.

So players/teams don't scheme a defense knowing where the EZ is and using that as an advantage? Really?
 
So players/teams don't scheme a defense knowing where the EZ is and using that as an advantage? Really?

Exactly Still. Which is why I said it's hard to blame Davis for trailing because that might be the technique called for on the play..yet Coach Dweeb won't even acknowledge the play on the ball.
 
This is the problem. You don't know jack. . Davis had him in coverage and he was beaten. Like I said he knew he was beaten and trying to hold.

If letting a player blow by you and trying to hold him is part of a planned coverage I never heard of it.

He was beaten initially. Whether by design or good pay by the WR..what you won't talk about is the play on the ball. While the ball was in the air Davis was able to get back in the play and get a hand on the ball..It took good concentration and even greater luck that after the big hit the ball landed right in his chest.
 
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He was beaten initially. Whether by design or good pay by the WR..what you won't talk about is the play on the ball. While the ball was in the air Davis was able to get back in the play and get a hand on the ball..It took good concentration and even greater luck tat after the big hit the ball landed right in his chest.

He was able to get back because it was a lob pass in the back of the EZ. If it was in the middle of the field it would / should have led the receiver on a line. No one could have recovered to save that unless the pass was bad.
I do agree that we do not know what the coverage was, but either way it was not some amazing play by Davis. He got beat off the line and was only able to recover because the pass was high and the WR was basically stopped. I guess that it is good he did not give up on the play though...for the record I like Davis and think he will be fine if playing the right spot, but that one play dI'd not show me anything special.
 
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