Carter's Classroom: Red zone = Dead zone for Lions taken in Detroit (Steelers)

Sean Davis reaches to break up a would-be touchdown pass to Darren Fells. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

DETROIT -- The Steelers' defense extended their streak of not allowing a touchdown to six quarters in fending off the Lions, 20-15, Sunday night at Ford Field, but that bend-don't-break posture wasn't new.

It's just that it's never been better: Five red zone situations, zero touchdowns.

The primary goal on the day was to force Detroit's offense to go one-dimensional by limiting the running backs, Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick, and that was achieved. Abdullah ran for 27 yards, Riddick for 21. That, of course, would turn the attention to Matthew Stafford, the NFL's highest-paid quarterback, and that ... really wasn't achieved. Stafford completed 27 of 45 passes for 423 yards, most by anyone against the Steelers all season. He made several solid reads and throws that moved the Lions down the field consistently throughout the game.

Part of Stafford's efficiency was built on keeping the Steelers' pass rush from affecting him. The Lions came into the game having allowed 23 sacks in their six games this season while the Steelers had the second-most sacks with 24. In this game, though, Stafford was sacked only twice for a total of 12 yards lost.

One of those efficient moments came when Stafford floated a ball for 34 yards to wide receiver T.J. Jones, between Joe Haden and Mike Mitchell, that got the Lions to the Pittsburgh 30-yard line. Jones sneaked past Haden, who appeared to be playing an intermediate zone to the inside part of the field, instead of outside the numbers where Jones was:

There were a few times it looked like Haden bit on underneath routes to open up deeper options for the Lions, as Marvin Jones became the first receiver to gain more than 100 yards against the Steelers this season with his 128 on six catches.

Ryan Shazier gave respect to Stafford when I asked him about the quarterback's performance:

Shazier finished with six solo tackles and a pass defensed, and another young talent, Sean Davis, also stepped up. He finished with five solo tackles, one for a loss, and two passes defensed.

One of the latter came from a key play in the red zone when he won a jump ball with Detroit tight end Darren Fells late in the first half.

"I had a 2-3 read, playing in between 2 and 3," Davis replied when I asked what he saw there. "I had the deeper of the two options, which was the tight end, and I played through the hands. I continued to fight through the play and the ball came out."

Davis differed with Shazier about Stafford's performance, citing the defense's mistakes as the reason they gave up so many yards rather than it being more about Stafford's merits.

"We weren't communicating well, and we gave up chunks. I really believe we gave them everything. When we're all on the same page, I feel like we're a hard defense to beat."

A secondary teammate had yet another view.

"It wasn't about communication problems. We just didn't execute," Artie Burns said. "We let them get down the field, but we stood tall in the red zone and wouldn't allow seven points."

In the red zone, it did appear that the Steelers' defense was on the same page and ready to make plays.

Cam Heyward partially attributed the Steelers' defensive red zone success to the field getting shorter and the Lions' chances for targeting deep not being an option.

"The field got condensed," Heyward said of Stafford in the red zone. "He couldn't go deep or look for all those big plays. I have to credit our secondary, and I thought we got pressure on him so he couldn't really step up."

Pressure was a huge part of both times the Steelers stopped the Lions on fourth down in the red zone.

The first came at the 1, when Tyson Alualu sacked Stafford for a loss of 1 yard. The Steelers forced Stafford off of his launch point thanks to solid outside pressure from Heyward and Bud Dupree. Doing so diverted Stafford's attention from a receiver who had space in the end zone, and he then tried to sneak his way through the middle of the defense.

When Stafford tucked the ball, Alualu spun back off his man so he could wrap up and finish:

I asked Heyward about how they prepared for situations like that coming into this week, as Stafford had been solid in the red zone all season. The Lions had scored touchdowns on 9 of 15 red zone possessions coming into this game.

"You have to have a lot of different things for a quarterback like that," Heyward said of their plan against Stafford. "We were ready with a gameplan, while I know it wasn't perfect, but we got the win today."

That gameplan focused on Stafford, whose red zone numbers were 14 completions on 28 attempts for 99 yards with 6 touchdowns and only 2 sacks coming into this game. That turned around with his red zone numbers being only one completion on 10 attempts for five yards, zero touchdowns, and the sack by Alualu on the only other passing play in the red zone.

The second turnover on downs came as a result of the defense getting pressure again, but this time from Javon Hargrave up the middle.

The Steelers often felt comfortable sending just three or four pass rushers throughout the game, and they brought only three on the defense's final play. But Hargrave won his one-on-one battle with Detroit center Travis Swanson and forced Stafford's hand where he needed to gain at least 7 yards to keep the Lions' hopes alive. Hargrave did what he does best by getting his shoulder pads lower than Swanson's and using his leg drive to control him the entire way:

The Steelers' coverage took care of their part behind Hargrave, locking down Stafford's primary read, and they were in position to take away any of his early targets. Though Shazier did drop the interception, he recorded his eighth pass defensed, most of any linebacker in the NFL. When asked about the dropped interception, Shazier said he looked straight to the far end zone when he went for the ball, which was what led to the drop.

Hargrave was also very close to making a big play of his own. While his quarterback pressure was what forced the pass from Stafford, he wanted to finish the play with a sack:

The Steelers' defense used a lot of looks to confuse Stafford. They featured Heyward as an edge rusher instead of an interior defensive lineman on sub-package formations. They had Hargrave rush the middle of the line while also dropping back in coverage. Even defensive tackle L.T. Walton went from crushing A-gap against the run in the red zone to being an edge rusher who forced an early pass from Stafford.

What's interesting about this defense is that they continue to find new looks and schemes to employ against opposing offenses, and yet they still learn and execute them well enough to get the job done. They still haven't allowed an offense to score 20 points in regulation.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY

Steelers vs. Lions, Detroit, Oct. 29, 2017. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

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