Behind the Steel Curtain
Welcome to the Week 9 mailbag! I’m sure we ae all on the same wavelength, feeling like the annual Steelers’ collapse has come a bit earlier than usual. The Steelers need a win against the Colts to avoid a third consecutive loss and to remain two games ahead of the Baltimore Ravens. In the meantime, though, crack open a Twix from Halloween and let’s get your questions answered (and, of course, thank you all for participating every week).
Q: Where do you reckon this unrealistic, and unrealised expectation of excellence comes from? Are they really still living in the 70s? Or are they actually hanging their hats on the “no losing seasons ” trope since Tomlin’s hire? Because the level of success since 1980 in no way suggests anything close to excellence. – Les Norton
A: There have been spells of excellence. Mid-90s, 2004-10, 2014-17. There hasn’t been a dynasty since the 1970s, but there have certainly been times of greatness.
Q: Two years ago, we were a man coverage (ranked 6th NFL) unit with plenty of blitzing (ranked 6th). Last year, we didn’t blitz as much (ranked 12th) and ran plenty of cover-3. Now we’re a cover-1 man (6th in man %, 2nd in middle field closed) unit that blitzes more often than almost any other team in the league (currently ranked 3rd). Are the Steelers changing their defensive philosophy too much between seasons? How does this swing in defensive strategies compare to other top defenses, such as the Lions or Eagles? – ProfMaffle
A: The numbers I have for Cover-3 usage show they’ve done it pretty consistently over the last three seasons (and really the last 10). In 2023, they ran Cover-3 35.97 percent of the time. 2024: 34.89 percent. 2025: 34.12 percent. In terms of Cover-1, they ran it about 26 percent of the time in 2023 and roughly 30 percent of the time in 2024 and 2025 thus far (all per SumerSports). It is interesting, though, that they are blitzing so much. i think that’s actually hurting them. They blitzed on just under 27 percent of pass plays against the Bengals and on 43 percent of pass plays against the Packers – both carved them up by getting the ball out quickly.
For the Lions, they blitz on 26 percent of pass plays, and the Eagles do so on roughly 22 percent. Both of those defenses, though, have much younger star players and better defensive minds leading them. Vic Fangio is arguably the best defensive coordinator in the NFL, and Kelvin Sheppard may be a year away from getting head coach interviews.
Q: The Steelers need defensive line help…badly! Is there a deal that could be made to acquire an effective lineman? If so, who would that lineman be, at which position, (What’s needed most) and how much would he cost the franchise? – SteelerSince73
A: I don’t think they’d make any major defensive line moves since they just drafted Derrick Harmon. Keeanu Benton is also...
