A strength only three weeks ago, the Steelers' secondary could now be perceived as a weakness.
Since Joe Haden broke his fibula against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium three weeks ago, the defense has allowed a number of big plays, despite facing backup quarterbacks in two of the past three weeks. Now, Keith Butler must decide how to defend the Bengals' A.J. Green, who practiced Saturday after a brief illness and will play Monday night in Cincinnati.
In a Week 7 win over the Bengals, the Steelers held Green to only 41 yards, but they didn't have to shadow him with one particular cornerback. Butler allowed Haden, Artie Burns and even Mike Hilton to cover Green in their respective spots on the field.
But can he deploy the same strategy Monday with Coty Sensabaugh in and Haden out?
"I think you’re foolish if you don’t," Butler said of shadowing Green. "We pretty much have since I’ve been here or since he’s been there. He’s a guy you have to try to keep him from beating you because he’s a good football player. He’s one of the better ones in the league, so he’s a weapon they use. He’s not the only guy they use, but he’s certainly a significant part of their offense."
The Steelers shadowed Green earlier in his career with Ike Taylor and with Burns last season. Butler is typically coy when discussing strategy, however, and that statement could very well be a coach not revealing his full hand. After all, neither Burns nor Sensabaugh has fared well recently. Over the Steelers' past four games, opposing quarterbacks have completed 62.5 percent of their passes for 1,206 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions, four of which were thrown by the Titans' Marcus Mariota. Thirteen of the 19 passes of 25 or more yards the Steelers have allowed this season have occurred over the past four weeks, including completions of 25, 39, 54 and 55 yards by the Packers' Brett Hundley.
There has been a significant drop in the play of the secondary since Haden's injury, particularly from Burns. It doesn't bode well for Butler's ability to use the second-year cornerback to shadow Green, who has 53 catches for 809 yards and six touchdowns this season.
"He can do it all," Sensabaugh said of Green. "He can run the whole route tree. He does a great job high-pointing the ball. He can catch it with his hands. He can catch it with his body. He does it all. He’s one of the best all-around receivers in the game."
The Steelers rank fourth in total defense, third against the pass, sixth against the run, first in first downs allowed and second in sacks. They're on a six-game winning streak and have a three-game lead in the AFC North.
Yet, each member of the defense is trying to keep that production in perspective. As Sean Davis put it, they can't simply "sweep the mistakes under the rug," when they're winning despite allowing a number of splash plays.
But it's difficult to address each of those problems from week to week, including the poor tackling, and there isn't always a fix schematically. What has ailed the cornerbacks in Haden's absence is simple technique, particularly on double moves — something an elite receiver like Green will try to exploit.
Both Burns and Sensabaugh have struggled on such plays.
"You have to be careful with your eyes," Butler explained. "You can’t look in the backfield. The habit is when you’re playing corner, backpedaling and they go up and run a stop route on them, you look in the backfield to see if they’re going to throw the ball to him. ... He makes a break, they look back for the ball instead of looking at him to close the space and then look back to the ball when it gets to them. That’s a big area in pass coverage. It’s not just Artie. It’s the linebackers. A lot of us do that."
During training camp the past two seasons, the Steelers routinely had Burns shadow Antonio Brown during practice. It was a move to prepare their first-round pick to cover the league's best, particularly Green. The plan entering this season was for him to continue to shadow an opponent's top receiver, but that changed once Haden was signed prior to the season opener.
Butler was able to trust any of his three cornerbacks to cover Green, who also lines up in the slot at times. He'll likely have to do the same this time, even if he'd prefer that Burns be playing well enough to handle the assignment.
"Man, they have a great offense," Sensabaugh said. "Joe, Artie and Mike did well against him last time. We can do the same thing this time. It can be any one of us on him, really."