Steel Mill A.M.: Communication the key for Steelers defense
It was less than 26 months ago that the Steelers were shredded on Opening Night 2015 in New England. Afterward and for weeks to follow, the team was open about poor on-field communication contributing to their deficiencies.
On Sunday against Cincinnati, those types of gaffes reared their ugly heads again for the Steelers – early in the game. But after a rocky start, the defense clamped down in a big way.
Clearing up the communication issues played a key part in the turnaround.
“We just focused on communication,” linebacker T.J. Watt said of the halftime narrative. “We were back home, it was a loud atmosphere, just trying to get everybody on the same page.
“We had decent amount of ‘checks' this week, and in the first half there was a little bit of miscues of who's going where and what, and I think at halftime we really made an emphasis on us making sure everyone was on the same page – and once we were on the same page, we were doing really great things.”
It wasn't anything overly exotic, but the Steelers made subtle changes at times (flipping their outside linebackers, bringing in different packages at somewhat-unconventional times, “checking” on the fly to different looks, etc.) that could have played a role in confusing the Bengals.
Cincinnati netted 20 yards on their final 23 snaps of the game and one first down over its final seven possessions.
Most importantly from the Steelers' perspective, lapses in judgment and blown assignments were lacking.
“We had certain checks, just the linebackers and the safeties sometimes seeing (particular) plays, and (adjusting before the snap),” cornerback Joe Haden said. “Just as long as we on the same page, that was the biggest thing we talked about: communication. Just making sure everyone was on the same checks.”
Sunday's result: Steelers 29, Bengals 14
Three stats to know:
1. Off year? Old? Run-first offense? Maybe – but guess who's in the top five in the NFL in passing yards? Ben Roethlisberger. His 1,745 represents an average of 249.3 yards per game.
2. With the help of the Steelers pass defense, Antonio Brown on Sunday extended his lead in NFL receiving yardage to 220 over A.J. Green. To put that into perspective, take the 220 yards between Brown (No. 1 in the NFL) and Green (No. 2) – it's the difference between Green at No. 2 and Carolina's Ed Dickson … who is 42nd in the league.
3. Through seven games, the Steelers in 10 attempts have yet to have a kickoff return of more than 25 yards.
Snap counts to know:
Offense: WR Martavis Bryant (36 of 69), WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (31), TE Jesse James (50), TE Vance McDonald (29), TE Xavier Grimble (28)
Defense: DE Cameron Heyward (48 of 51), DL Tyson Alualu (41), DL Javon Hargrave (27), DT Dan McCullers (0), OLB James Harrison (7)
Weekly schedule: The Steelers practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Three storylines for the week:
1. Another week, another off-field drama. And for the second consecutive week, it's Martavis Bryant apparently/reportedly causing it.
2. The Steelers this season have been blessed with health that most any team would love to have. Yet they still haven't been able to attain non-injury perfection of having all 22 starters available. Will Marcus Gilbert and Stephon Tuitt make it back?
3. Will the pass defense continue its run? Matthew Stafford is the first quarterback the Steelers will face this season who traditionally has a pass-first mentality (he's averaged 4,583 passing yards the past five seasons). Can the Steelers secondary continue its stinginess?
Next game: Steelers (5-2) at Detroit Lions (3-3), 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Ford Field
For the second consecutive game, the Steelers face an opponent coming off a bye week. Unlike the then-hot Bengals, though, Detroit probably embraced the time off. The Lions have lost their past two – and they allowed 52 points in their most recent game (a defeat at New Orleans).
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
